A Hidden Truth that Comes to Light
by alex-1310
Summary: While working on a case involving a little girl, Elliot and the rest of the squad find out some new information about Olivia that shocks all of them.
1. He's Your What?

1A/N: This is my first SVU fanfic, but definitely not my last. I already have two other stories I am working on, but this is the one I decided to post first. Hope ya'll enjoy!

**Chapter One: He's Your What?**

Olivia Benson was sitting at her desk staring at her partner across from her. Elliot looked up from the file he was reading to find her staring intently at her. He raised his eyebrows and asked,

"Something on your mind Olivia?"

She squinted her eyes slightly and tilted her head to the side, trying to decide whether she should ask him the question or not. She decided what the heck and so she went for it,

"How you doing? You know since the divorce is final and everything"

His smile quickly faded at the mention of his divorce, and a serious, yet sad look took it's place. Olivia could tell he wasn't doing so well, but she knew he would never admit it to her voluntarily, if at all.

"I'm fine" he answered

Olivia lowered one eyebrow at him and said,

"Elliot I have known you for eight years. I can tell when something's bothering you, and considering we just closed the latest case we were on, I know that isn't what's bothering you, so it must be something personal. Like maybe having to do with your kids."

Elliot lowered his eyebrows and said,

"Just because we are partners doesn't mean I have to tell you everything that's bothering me"

"I didn't say you had to tell me anything. I just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." she told him

Elliot kept looking at her before he said,

"I know"

Olivia nodded before getting up and going over to the coffee maker to get a cup of coffee for herself and Elliot. Then she walked back over to his desk and handed him the cup she made for him and smiled at him. He looked up at her and smiled back before saying,

"Thanks"

"Sure"

Just as she sat back down at her desk Cragen came out of his office and went over to the two of them. He looked from Elliot to Olivia before saying,

"Just got a call about a six year old girl found beat up pretty bad. They think she might have been raped. You two up to it?"

Elliot looked at Olivia and knew what her answer was.

"Yeah Cap, we got it" he told him

They arrived at the hospital to meet the little girl there. Elliot said he would talk to the Doctor while Olivia went in to talk to the little girl. She went into the room the little girl was in and found her sitting on the table, her knees pulled up into her chest and she had her head leaning down on her knees. Olivia saw the little girl and her heart melted. This little girl was so adorable. She had curly brown hair down to her shoulders, and bright blue eyes that stood out against her dark curly hair and olive complected skin. Olivia and Elliot both found it the most difficult when they had to work with children. She slowly approached the little girl and the girl looked up at her with fear in her eyes. Olivia noticed the look and so she stopped walking towards her and said,

"Hi honey, My name is Olivia. I'm a police officer." as she told the little girl that, she took out her badge and showed it to the little girl.

The little girl's face softened a little, so Olivia continued on,

"Do you mind if I come sit next to you and talk to you for a little bit"

The little girl just shrugged her shoulders, so Olivia walked up to the little girl and stood in front of her.

"So do you think you could tell me your name?" Olivia asked the little girl

The girl looked up at Olivia without answering, so Olivia tried again.

"Sweetie did you live in the apartment building that the policeman found you in?"

The little girl nodded her head, so Olivia continued on,

"Well then, can you tell me your name so that we can find your mommy and daddy and tell them you are here"

The little girl's eyes got wide when Olivia mentioned her parents and so Olivia asked,

"Did you know the person who hurt you sweetie?"

The little girl looked down at the floor and Olivia knew that that meant yes.

"It's okay sweetie, you can tell me who hurt you and then we will take him away and he will never hurt anyone else"

The little girl looked slowly back up at Olivia and finally spoke,

"Promise?"

"I promise. Can you tell me who hurt you?"

"My mom's boyfriend. He lives with us." The little girl said softly.

"Okay, and what's your name honey?"

"Callie"

"Wow, that's a beautiful name" Olivia told the little girl with a smile

The little girl smiled back at Olivia's comment.

"Has your mom's boyfriend ever hurt you before?"

"One time he hit me when he was mad"

"Honey I need to ask you if he touched you anywhere? Somewhere you didn't want to be touched?"

The little girl shook her head no, so then Olivia asked,

"Has anyone ever touched you somewhere you didn't want them to touch?"

The little girl then looked down at the ground again and Olivia knew that was a yes.

"Can you tell me who touched you?" Olivia asked gently

"One of his friends" the little girl said softly

"Was he a friend of your mom's too?"

"I don't know. They are all over a lot"

"Okay honey, can you tell me any of their names?"

"Tom, John, Andy, and Mark"

"Which one is your mom's boyfriend?"

"John"

"And which one touched you?"

"Tom. He said if I told anyone he'd kill me"

"Don't worry sweetheart, we won't let that happen." Olivia told the little girl, just as Elliot walked into the room.

"That's my partner Elliot. I'm just going to go outside and talk to him okay?"

The little girl nodded before Olivia and Elliot stepped outside her room to talk.

"Doctor said she was definitely raped. No signs of semen, although they did find a hair and it's definitely not the little girl's." Elliot told Olivia

"She told me that it was her mom's boyfriend who hit her, but it was one of his friends that touched her. She's scared he's going to kill her." Olivia told Elliot

"Well that SOB is gonna have to go through me first" Elliot said angrily

"Me too"

"You know how one of the neighbors found her in an apartment?" he asked her

"Yeah"

"It was your apartment building they found her at" he told her

"What, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't know why the Captain didn't mention it" he said

"Well let's get over there and start questioning the neighbors" she told him

"Let's go"

They got to her apartment building and found out the little girl lived at the very end of Olivia's hall.

"That's impossible, I've never seen her before" Olivia said when they found out

"Liv we work crazy hours, your paths probably never crossed"

"Until now"

They began questioning the neighbors, when one of them mentioned seeing a little boy around ten years old talking to the little girl before they started hearing a bunch of commotion. Elliot happened to be talking to the man who saw the little boy, and the man said he watched the little boy go back into apartment 5D. Elliot knew that apartment. It was Olivia's, so that couldn't be right.

"Sir are you sure that's the apartment you saw him go in"

"What do you think I'm lying to you" the man said annoyed

"No it's just I know the woman who lives there and she doesn't have any kids" Elliot told the man

"Well then you must not know that lady right there very well. Is she your partner?" The man asked Elliot

"Yeah why?"

"Because I know she's the cop that lives there, and I have seen her with that little boy several times. So maybe it's you that needs to be questioning her" the man said before closing the door in Elliot's face

"So did you come up with anything useful?" Olivia asked him as she walked up to him

"Depends on how you look at it?" he told her

"The man who lives here says he saw a little boy around ten years old talking to the little girl before everything happened"

Olivia shifted a little uneasily and Elliot could tell what he had just said made her nervous.

"Do you want to know what else he told me?" Elliot asked her

Olivia looked at him and closed her eyes,

"Elliot I can explain"

"Well you sure as hell better" he said slightly raising his voice

"I guess we need to go talk to that little boy" she told him as she walked towards her apartment and got out her key. She unlocked the door and walked inside, Elliot right behind her.

When they walked inside Elliot saw a plate with a half eaten sandwich left on it and half a glass of orange juice on the counter. But other than that he didn't see any sign of kid living here. Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding. But then Olivia called his name,

"Sweetie it's just me, could you come out here for a minute, I need to talk to you"

A few seconds later a little boy came out of one of the doors in Olivia's apartment. But when he saw Elliot the little boy froze.

"It's okay sweetheart he sort of knows" Olivia told the boy

So the boy continued to walk over to them, and as he got closer Elliot had to catch his breath at what he saw. This little boy looked exactly like Olivia. He had the exact same facial structure, the same build, and the same auburn colored hair that was slightly long, which made him really resemble Olivia. Then when the little boy had reached Olivia, Elliot noticed his eyes, they were the exact same deep brown as Olivia's. Olivia put her arm around his shoulder and looked at Elliot.

"Elliot I would like you to meet my son, Oliver. Oliver this is my partner Elliot"

"I know mom, I've seen him before" the little boy told her, causing Olivia to smile

"Nice to meet you Oliver" Elliot told him, still in shock

"Nice to finally meet you too" Oliver told him reaching out his hand for Elliot to shake. Elliot took his hand in his and shook it, while smiling at the boy.

"I can't believe you never told me about him" Elliot told her.

Olivia could tell by the tone of his voice that he was disappointed in her, and slightly hurt.

"It's not really her fault she couldn't tell you. Besides I've only been living here about two years." the boy told Elliot

"Two years is a pretty long time" Elliot said to both the boy and Olivia

"I promise I will explain everything to you Elliot. But right now we need to concentrate on catching the perp who hurt that little girl." Olivia told him

"You mean Callie?" Oliver asked

"Yeah honey, did you know her very well?" Olivia asked her son

"Yeah. She used to come over and play video games with me sometimes, when her mom's friends were over. I think they would do drugs over there or something, cause they always brought a few bags with them, and there were always the same four guys. Two of them are pretty scary, they've got tattoos all over them and long hair and stuff" Oliver told his mother

"Did you ever hear her mom and boyfriend arguing?" Elliot asked him

"Yeah, that's when I would go over there and listen through the door, and if it sounded like someone was getting hurt I would knock on the door and ask if Callie could come over and play. If her mom or the guy said no, then I would ask if everything was okay, and they would usually say yes" the boy told them

"Oliver I have told you a million times not to leave this apartment" Olivia told him sternly

"I know mom, but I know someone is getting hurt over there, whether it's Callie or her mom, or both of them." the boy told her sadly

"I know sweetie, I just don't want anything to happen to you" Olivia told him

"Is Callie okay? I heard a neighbor and the police come down the hall and I watched out the peephole. There was a lot of noise down there, and I went to check on her earlier but John told me to go away or he'd make sure me and her never saw daylight again" Oliver told his mother and her partner

"He threatened you" Olivia stated moreso than questioned

"He's not a nice guy mom, I told you, I'm pretty sure he hurts Callie and her mom sometimes. You know like when da-" he was telling his mom before she cut him off

"Okay Ollie that's fine, thank you" she told him looking at him a certain way, which he understood meant to stop talking. Elliot watched their interactions with each other and he knew they were hiding something else.

"Did you see anybody leave that apartment before the ambulance and police came?" Elliot asked the boy

"I just saw John and Anna, Callie's mom, and Andy leave. I was watching out the peephole because I heard a lady crying, and when I looked out Andy and John were like dragging her down the hall" Oliver told them

"You didn't see anybody else leave?" Elliot asked

The boy looked down at the ground and then looked back up at him and then over to his mother.

"I saw the other two guys leave a while later and so I went out on the fire escape and I saw them get into a white suburban...But before they got into it, I saw them look back up at the building and...and it looked like they saw me, and they pulled out a gun and then put it back inside their jacket" he told the two detectives

"Oliver, do you think they were looking at you?" his mother asked him

"It seemed like it. They've seen me before when I've come over to check on Callie, and they definitely don't seem to like me, or any other kid for that matter" he answered her

"Are you the one who called the police sweetie?" his mother asked

He nodded his head before answering,

"I was scared, I didn't see Callie and I didn't know what had happened. I just didn't want the police to find out who I was, and I knew other neighbors had seen or heard what was going on"

"You're a brave kid, just like your mom" Elliot told the boy

Oliver smiled before saying,

"I know, what did you expect"

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before Oliver spoke up again,

"Is she okay?"

Olivia turned to her son, tilted her head to the side and gave him one of her half smiles before answering him.

"She's hurt pretty bad and she's scared"

"Can I see her" he asked

Olivia looked from her son to her partner before her son pleaded with her.

"Please mom, it'll probably cheer her up a little, you know, to see a friendly face. Besides I want to make sure she's okay"

Olivia smiled at her son before looking back over to Elliot who gave a nod.

"Okay fine, but only for a few minutes okay" she told her son

"Okay, thanks mom" he said, as he, Olivia, and Elliot left the apartment to head to the hospital.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. I know it's a little unrealistic how Oliver just kind of appeared and no one knew about him, but hey, that's why it's fan-fic. Please review, it would be greatly appreciated! 


	2. Wow!

1A/N: Well here's the next chapter. Thanks for the great reviews, you guys are awesome! Hope you enjoy the story.

**Chapter Two: Wow!**

When they got to the hospital they took Oliver up to the floor where Callie was staying, until they thought she was well enough to be released to social services. Elliot and Olivia took Oliver to the room she was in and Olivia went in first while Elliot and Oliver waited outside. When she went into the room the little girl smiled at her, so Olivia smiled back.

"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"Okay I guess"

"Would you feel better if you saw a friend?" Olivia asked the young girl

"Who?"

Olivia turned and motioned for Elliot to let Oliver come in. So Elliot and Oliver both came through the door and Olivia and Elliot both watched as Callie's face lit up at the sight of Oliver.

"Ollie!" Callie practically yelled with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey Callie, are you okay?" Oliver asked as he went over to her.

When he got to her she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, and Olivia watched as he hugged the little girl back.

"I'm better now that you're here" Callie told him

Oliver sat down on the bed next to Callie and that's when she asked if Oliver knew the police. He nodded his head and told her,

"Olivia's my mom and Elliot's her partner. So don't you worry, they'll make sure no one ever hurts you again" the boy told the little girl

The little girl smiled at him and then they started talking, so Olivia and Elliot decided to wait outside the room for Oliver so that it wouldn't seem like they were imposing on their conversation.

Olivia and Elliot both watched through the glass in the door for a little while as Oliver and Callie talked, and Olivia smiled at how Oliver was making the little girl laugh.

"He seems like a great kid Liv. Why didn't you tell me about him?" Elliot questioned her

"Elliot it was complicated at the time. I didn't want you to be involved, or put in any danger, especially since you had a family" she told him

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore, so now you have no excuse not to tell me"

"Can't it wait till later"

"Liv I just want to know what the real reason is that you didn't tell me about him"

"It's a long story El, we don't really have time right now"

"I'm not going to let you put off telling me. One way or another I will get it out of you" he smiled at her

"I know"

"I'm your partner Liv, and I think I deserve to know why you have been keeping that a secret. And if your in some kind of trouble or something I want to know. I care about you Liv, you know that. I don't want anything to happen to you." he told her with sincerity

"I know El"

Just then a Doctor came around the corner and went into Callie's room. Then he came back out with an angry look on his face and the Detectives went up to him to find out what was wrong.

"Dr. what's wrong?" Elliot asked

"What is that boy doing in there?" he questioned the two detectives

"He's a friend and we thought she could use a little cheering up" Olivia told him

"I thought I said no more visitors. She needs her rest until you find someone to take her. She doesn't need to be bothered by anyone. She needs her rest." the Dr. told them

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other with half smiles, before Elliot walked up to the Dr. and made him look through the glass into the room with the two children laughing and goofing around.

"That, Dr., is what the little girl needs. She needs someone who can make her laugh and forget about everything she's been through. And in case you haven't noticed that's the first time the little girl has laughed or smiled since she has been admitted" Elliot told him

"Well just make sure he doesn't stay too long" the Dr. said before walking off

Elliot and Olivia shook their heads at him, before both of them looked through the glass to see Oliver pretending to go down some stairs at the end of the bed, while Callie laughed at him. As they were watching them, Elliot's phone rang. He stepped aside to talk, while Olivia continued to watch the kids. Then Elliot came back over to her and said,

"That was the Captain, he wants to know where we've been and why we haven't bought anyone in to make an ID on the guy who did this to her"

"Elliot I don't want Ol-"

"I know. Why don't we just go back to the station and tell the Captain what Oliver told us. Then we can run the names through the database and whatever hits we get we can print out the pictures and take them to your apartment and let Oliver look through them and see which ones he recognizes"

"You'd do that?" Olivia asked him

"We're partners Liv, and I know you'd do it for me" he told her with a smile

Then they went into Callie's room and told the kids that it was time for Oliver to go back home, because they needed to get back to work. Callie begged Elliot and Olivia to let Oliver stay until she got off of work, but Olivia didn't feel comfortable leaving her son there for the rest of the day. So she promised Callie that she would bring Oliver back to see her when she got off of work. Then she, Elliot, and Oliver headed back out to the car and they drove Oliver back home. Elliot and Olivia walked Oliver back up to their apartment and Olivia told him she'd be back later.

As Olivia and Elliot were driving back to the precinct Elliot could tell there was something on her mind.

"You okay Liv?"

Still looking out the passenger window, she answered,

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Well it seems like something's bothering you"

"Hmm, kind of like the something that was bothering you this morning" she told him, turning to look at him

"Okay fine, I get it, you don't want to talk about it either. But you know I'm still disappointed in you for not telling me about Oliver. I didn't even know you had a kid. All the times we talked about kids, you always said you were glad you didn't have one to worry about this day in age."

"Elliot quit trying to act like my father. And Oliver wasn't living with me at the time, so obviously I didn't have a child"

"Yeah but you did, he just wasn't living with you"

"Elliot there is a reason I told everyone that I didn't have a kid, okay. And when I'm ready to share that reason with you I will. So drop it" she told him angrily

"Okay fine, but you should know that it's going to make it harder for me to trust you now."

"What? Elliot don't be an ass, I've never lied to you about our cases, unless it was to keep your ass out of trouble."

"Olivia I just don't understand why you didn't think you could trust me. We've been partners for eight years now, haven't I earned the right-haven't I earned your trust by now"

"Don't start with me Elliot" she told him raising her voice angrily

"Liv, I just don't understand"

"Damn it Elliot, it wasn't that I didn't trust you, okay. I just didn't want anything to happen to you" she yelled at him

"Olivia we're partners, anything could happen to one of us at any given time, but that's what we have each other for, to make sure that nothing does happen."

"Yeah, but this was personal, and I didn't want to put you in danger because of my personal life. I mean you've never put me in that kind of position"

"You're right I wouldn't, but I know that if something was up with one of my kids, and you found out about it, there's no way you would sit that one out. You'd be in there helping me, whether I wanted you to or not"

"Exactly and you would do the same thing if it were me. And I didn't want you-I mean you're the one with the family, and I didn't want to put your life in danger because of me"

"Well I'm obviously not a family man anymore, so now you have no excuse to keep me out of your personal life" he told her with a partial smile

"Can we talk about it when this case is over?" she asked her partner, tired of arguing with him

"Liv we don't know how long this case is going to last"

"Fine then can we at least wait until we get off work tonight?" she asked him again

"Deal"

When they finally reached the precinct they told the Captain that they had talked to a witness, who at this time would like to remain nameless, and that he had given them pretty good information. They told Cragen that they were going to run the names of the men that were given to them, if they got any hits in the computer then they would take the pictures of the men to the witness and let him see if he recognizes any of them, and then they would go from there. So the Captain agreed with what his detectives were doing because he trusted them.

After running the names of the men through the computer, they got a hit off of a Thomas Staton, he had been arrested for child molestation, but had never been convicted. The question is whether it was the same Tom that Callie and Oliver had told them about. They also got a hit off of an Andrew McKay, who had been arrested for drug possession three years ago and had been sent to jail for ten months. So Elliot printed out the pictures of Tom and Andy and they told the Captain they were going to head back to the witness' apartment and show him the pictures, to see if they were the same men that the witness had seen.

On the way to Olivia's apartment they stopped at a Chinese restaurant and picked up some dinner for all three of them. When they got to her apartment Oliver was in his room playing video games. Olivia went to get him while Elliot got out the dishes for the food. When they got done with dinner Elliot and Olivia sat Oliver down to talk with him.

"Honey, I need you to look at some pictures and tell me if you recognize any of the men, okay" she told him

"Then can we go see Callie again? You promised you'd take me when you got off of work" Oliver told his mother

Olivia looked from her son to her partner, before saying,

"Honey, I haven't exactly gotten off work yet"

"Mom, pleeeassse. You promised" he pleaded with her, with the same big brown eyes as her own. Elliot couldn't help but smile when he saw the boy do that.

"Okay I'll take you as soon as you look at these photographs" she told him as she took the pictures from Elliot and gave them to her son to look through.

Her and Elliot watched the boy's reactions as he looked through the pictures. They watched as he stopped and focused on one picture. Olivia looked intently at her son before asking,

"Do you recognize that man?"

"I think this is Andy. He looks kind of different now. I mean his hair is longer and he wears it in a ponytail, and he has a mustache. And he had a tattoo of a sword on his neck" Oliver told his mother

"Okay well keep looking through the rest of the pictures and see if you recognize any of the other men" she told the boy

He continued to look through the pictures as Olivia handed Elliot the picture of the man Oliver had picked out. Elliot looked on the back and read the name, Andrew McKay, the one he and Olivia had found in the computer. Then Oliver stopped and looked at his mother and said,

"This is the man I saw leave with the other one. The one's that looked up at me from the suburban"

Olivia took the picture and recognized it as the one she and Elliot had considered, Thomas Staton, the one arrested for child molestation. Olivia looked at Elliot as she handed him the picture. Then Olivia looked back down at her son and smiled. He smiled back up at her and said,

"Is everything okay mom?"

"Yeah sweetie, I think everything's going to be okay"

"Then can we go to the hospital now? Please" he asked her

Olivia looked at Elliot and he nodded his head. Before they left, Oliver ran back into his room and came out with a stuffed dog. He looked at his mom and asked,

"Can I take this to Callie, she loves dogs, and I don't use it anymore"

Olivia smiled and answered,

"Yeah Ollie, I think that's a good idea"

He smiled back as he ran towards her and Elliot. Then when they got to the hospital they all went into the room to see how Callie was doing. Her face lit up when she saw all of them come in, which made Olivia feel good.

"I brought this for you Callie. It used to be mine, but I thought you could use this more than me" Oliver told the little girl

She smiled and hugged him as she took the stuffed dog from him. Elliot and Olivia talked to the kids for awhile and laughed a little with them before they left to find some coffee. When they came back the kids were still in the room cutting up and having a good time.

A few minutes later Elliot's phone rang, it was the Captain wondering where they were and what information they had found. Elliot filled him in and told him they were at the hospital and that they were going to show the pictures to the little girl to see if she recognized any of them. The Captain told them that after they do that, then they needed to go home and get some rest, and then come back in the morning.

After Elliot relayed the message to Olivia, they sat down and waited a little while, giving Oliver and Callie enough time to talk and goof around.

"Elliot if you want to go home, go ahead. I'll wait for Oliver and we'll take a cab"

"No way, Liv, I'll give you a ride. I mean what do I have to go home to... nothing"

"I'm sorry El...about everything" she told him sadly, looking at him

He slowly looked up at her and smiled faintly,

"Well what are you gonna do, right?" he stated

She smiled slightly before standing up and going over to the door to Callie's room and looking in. She smiled at what she saw through the glass and then looked back over at Elliot.

"So you want to stay awhile when we head back to my place, and I'll try to explain things to you"

"I was going to suggest the same thing once we got to your apartment" he told her with a smile

"That figures"

She then looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly 10 PM, so she went into the hospital room and got Oliver and they all headed back to her place.

Once they got home Olivia sent Oliver to take a shower and get ready for bed. When he finished Olivia went to tuck him in, when she realized Elliot had never seen his room.

"Maybe Elliot would like to see your room" she whispered into her son's ear.

He grinned before looking over at Elliot and asking,

"You wanna see my room?"

Elliot returned the smile and nodded,

"Sure"

He followed the boy through the doorway into his bedroom. He looked around and saw a bunk bed and a desk. Then he saw all of the sports equipment, there must have been something from almost every sport. He saw a hockey stick in the corner, along with a baseball bat, and he saw a soccer ball and a football on the floor.

Elliot smiled before asking,

"You play sports?"

Oliver nodded and said,

"I play on a flag football team in the spring and a little league team, and I also play football and basketball. Oh, and I play street hockey at the park whenever I have time"

"Wow, that's a lot of things to do"

"Yeah but it's fun. I'm not very good at all of them"

Then Elliot looked over to the corner by Oliver's bed and saw a guitar leaning up against the wall.

"You play guitar?"

"Yeah I got lessons when I was younger. I haven't played in awhile though" the boy told Elliot

With that Oliver climbed into bed and Olivia walked over from the doorway and tucked him in. Then she kissed his forehead and said,

"I love you"

"Love you too mom. Goodnight Elliot" the boy told them

"Night Oliver" Elliot replied, before following Olivia out of the bedroom.

When they got back into the living room Elliot looked at Olivia and smiled. She returned the smile, but knew that he was about to start asking questions, she could tell by that smile he had just given her. It was his I'm about to ask you a question smile because I care about you so please don't hate me.

"He looks just like you"

Olivia smiled and let out a low laugh as she responded,

"I know I apologize to him every day for that"

"Liv he seems like a great kid. You must have a really good reason for not telling me about him"

"Yeah, well, it was complicated. I didn't even know how to approach you about it" she said, without looking at him.

"Well you could have told me from the beginning, you know, when we were first partnered together" he told her

"He wasn't living with me at the time Elliot and I wasn't sure I would ever see him again. I didn't want to get my hopes up by telling you that I had a son. And I didn't want everyone in the precinct to know my situation" she replied

"Okay then, why wasn't he living with you when we first started working together?"

Olivia looked him in the eyes before answering,

"Because he was living with his father"

"Hah, very funny Liv, I am being serious"

"So am I. He was living with his father and that's the truth"

"Stop being a smart ass. Why wasn't he living with you?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and said,

"He wanted to live with his dad and his dad wanted him to live with him"

"Somehow Liv I don't buy it. I've seen you with the kid and you're great with him, and he seems to really love you."

"Yeah well things change"

"Olivia if you aren't going to be straight with me then there was no point in me even listening to what you have to say. Maybe our partnership was doomed from the start." he said angrily as he got up from the couch

"Elliot-"

"I don't want to hear it Liv. I know you have a problem trusting people, but we've been partners for eight years, and I thought I had earned your trust by now, but I guess I was wrong" he told her still angry, as he headed for the door.

"Elliot please wait" she pleaded with him

Just as he stopped and turned around her phone rang. She answered it and Elliot knew something was wrong when Olivia gasped and asked,

"Is she okay?"

"Thank you Doctor, we'll be right there"

After she hung up she looked at Elliot and before he could ask what happened Olivia said,

"Callie was attacked at the hospital"

"What? Is she okay?"

"Yeah but they think we should come down and check on her" she told him as she went into Oliver's room and told him she'd be back later

"How did it happen?" he asked Olivia as she came out of Oliver's room

"Someone dressed as a Doctor went into the room when she was asleep, but she heard him come in and when she saw the man she started screaming."

"And they didn't catch the guy?" Elliot asked as him and Olivia walked out of her apartment building

"No, he managed to stab the real Doctor with some type of syringe and by the time the security guard got there the man was already gone" she told him as they got into Elliot's car

"These guys are really asking for it" Elliot commented as they headed for the hospital, the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

A/N: Hope ya'll enjoyed that chapter. Had to leave it somewhat hanging. So do you think Olivia will tell Elliot the truth in the next chapter? Guess you'll have to wait until next week to find out! Please review and tell me what you think! 


	3. Feelings

1A/N: Hey guys thanks for the reviews, I give ya'll all a hug! Here's the next chapter in this Law and Order story, hope you enjoy! Oh by the way, is it just me or does it seem like Mariska and Chris didn't really have many episodes together this season? I mean I know she's pregnant, but they knew that she was trying to get pregnant, so why didn't they have them do more episodes together at the beginning of this season? Or did they plan it that way for a reason? Does anyone know?

**Chapter Three: Feelings**

Elliot and Olivia made it to the hospital some thirty minutes later. When they got to the floor that Callie was on, they found a Doctor who had replaced the one who had been stabbed with the syringe. After showing him their badges and asking them how the other Doctor was, he finally took them into Callie's room. When Olivia and Elliot entered the room they saw that Callie was crying and a nurse was trying to soothe her. But Olivia could tell by the look on Callie's face that she didn't want the nurse anywhere near her. When Callie saw Olivia and Elliot she immediately held her arms out to Olivia, so Olivia went over to her and sat down on the bed with Callie and Callie threw her arms around Olivia's neck. Olivia wrapped her arms around the little girl and rocked her back and forth as the little girl cried. The nurse got up and left the room, leaving only Olivia, Callie, and Elliot. And Elliot couldn't help but tear up a little at the image before him. Not only because of everything Callie had been through, but because of the way she and Olivia had taken to each other.

A little while later Callie had finally cried herself to sleep in Olivia's arms. So Olivia carefully laid the girl back down on the bed and covered her with the blanket. She carefully got up and sat down in the chair that was beside the bed. Looking over at Elliot who was sitting in another chair next to hers, she said,

"I guess we'll need to wait awhile before we ask her any questions"

"Yeah, she could probably use the rest anyways"

"Elliot if you want to leave and go home to get some rest that's fine, I'll stay here" offered Olivia

"No, I'm fine. I'd rather stay here and wait with you" he replied

Olivia just nodded her head as she turned and looked back down at Callie sleeping.

About two hours later Elliot woke up to find his legs propped up at the end of Callie's bed and Olivia's propped up on top of his. When he looked over at Olivia she was sound asleep with her head resting on her arm. He wondered how she could ever sleep like that, if it were him his arm would give out on him and he would hit his head on the arm rest or find himself awakening with a terrible cramp in his neck. He smiled as he watched her sleep, she seemed so peaceful and innocent just like Callie did. He looked over at the little girl as well and saw that her eyes were still closed and she was laying in a fetal position. His smile faded as he watched the little girl sleeping, wondering how anyone could hurt this sweet little girl. There was no way for her to even try and defend herself. She would have been no match for a grown man. He thought about how he would sometimes worry about Olivia when they were working on a case and some guy they were interviewing would hit on her. He hated when that happened, he always thought that they might go after Olivia and that worried him. He knew that she could defend herself and that she would most definitely shoot the bastard if she had to. But Callie was just a little girl, only six years old, there was no way she could possibly beat the crap out of a grown man who was trying to hurt her.

As Elliot was lost in thought Callie slowly woke up and looked over at the two detectives. She saw that Elliot was awake and moved slightly to catch his attention. He saw her move and looked at her only to find her awake and staring at him. He smiled before quietly saying,

"Hey Callie, how are you feeling?"

She just shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Olivia. Elliot watched her eyes as they shifted to look at Olivia.

"She fell asleep soon after you did. Do you want me to wake her up so that you can talk to her?"

Callie just shook her head no and looked back at Elliot. While she was looking at him she grabbed the stuffed dog that Oliver had given her and held onto it tightly.

"You okay sweetie?" Elliot asked her

"I'm scared. I don't want the bad men to come get me."

"Oh sweetie, I promise Olivia and I won't let that happen again" he told her as he leaned forward a little in his chair.

Callie got a sad look on her face and Elliot thought she was going to cry again.

"Sweetie are you okay? Do you want me to come sit with you on the bed?"

"Maybe just on the end of the bed" she told him pointing at the foot at the bed.

"Okay" he smiled at her

He carefully leaned forward and ever so gently lifted Olivia's feet off of his legs and set them down on the end of Callie's bed. Then he got up and walked over to the end of the bed and sat down on it facing Callie.

Elliot sat there looking at Callie and couldn't help but picture Lizzie when she was that age and it brought a smile to his face. Callie noticed the smile so she asked,

"Why are you smiling?"

"I was thinking about my kids"

Callie's face softened at the mention of him having kids.

"You have kids?"

"Yeah three girls and a boy"

"Do you have any of them my age?"

"No they are all older than you. But my twins are only a little older than Oliver"

"You have twins?" she asked intrigued

Elliot smiled at her reaction before replying,

"Yeah a boy and a girl"

"Really, what are their names?"

"Dickie and Lizzie"

Callie smiled as she scooted a little bit closer to Elliot, although you wouldn't be able to tell that she had moved all that far. They were still sitting a good length apart.

"Don't you're kids miss you when you're gone at night?" she asked him

"Well actually they live with their mom now"

"Oh, Why?"

Elliot smiled as the little girl began to ask a list of questions.

"Their mother and I just got divorced"

"Oh, do they get to see you a lot?"

"Not really. I wish I could see them more"

"Then why don't you?"

"I have to work a lot. And it feels good to help kids who are in trouble"

"So you help kids like me a lot?" she asked him

"Yeah we do"

"That's good. You and Olivia are nice policeman. Some policeman aren't very nice, so I'm glad you're the one helping kids"

"I'm glad we're helping you too" Elliot told the little girl with a smile

They continued their conversation, with Callie asking a bunch of questions and Elliot answering them. They were so involved talking to one another that neither of them noticed that Olivia had woken up and was watching them interact with one another with a smile on her face. She sat their quietly listening and watching Elliot and Callie together. Callie just happened to look over at Olivia and see that she was awake, and she smiled.

"Hi Livia" said Callie, which caused Elliot to look over and see Olivia with a smile on her face.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Olivia asked the young girl

"I was scared but Elliot's been talking to me" she told her

"I see and what all are you talking about?" she asked Callie

"Stuff, Detective Benson" Elliot told her before Callie could answer

Olivia just laughed a little before taking her feet off of the end of Callie's bed and sitting up a little straighter in her chair. Then she looked at Elliot and they both knew that it was time to ask the little girl some more questions about what happened tonight.

"Sweetie, we need to ask you some more questions about what happened tonight" Olivia told the girl

"I know" she answered

"Okay, well, can you tell me if you knew the man who came into your room?" she asked Callie

"It was Mark. He's never hurt me before" she told Olivia

"Are you okay sweetie?" Olivia asked

"Yeah, I just don't want them to hurt me again. I want my mom. Are you gonna find her?" Callie asked her

"Yes sweetie we are gonna find her" Olivia told the little girl as she wrapped her arms around her again to give the little girl a hug.

"Callie, Olivia and I have to go back to work, but we are going to put another policeman outside your room, okay" Elliot told the little girl

"I don't want you to go" the little girl cried

"I know honey, but we have to go find your mom, and the men who hurt you" Olivia told her

"But I want you to stay with me"

"Sweetie don't worry, no one is allowed in your room except for the Doctor we talked to and the one nurse who we all know, okay" Elliot told her reassuringly

"And the policeman is not going to let anyone else in okay" Olivia told Callie

Callie looked up at Olivia and then over to Elliot with a sad look on her face, and it broke both Olivia and Elliot's hearts. They really wanted to stay and protect the fragile little girl, but they also wanted to catch the guys who did this to her, and find her mom. Olivia prayed that she hadn't made a promise to the little girl that she wouldn't be able to keep.

"Can Oliver come visit me later?" Callie asked Olivia

"I'm sure he would like that sweetie. Maybe if I have a break later today, or when I get off later I can bring him by" she told the little girl

"Okay" she replied. She seemed satisfied knowing that she was going to see Oliver later that day.

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before standing up.

"We'll see you in a little while then, okay" Olivia told the girl

"Kay" she answered

"Bye" Elliot said

"Bye" the little girl said, as Elliot and Olivia walked out the door to Callie's room.

They gave instructions to the police officer that Cragen had sent over to keep watch outside Callie's room. Then they walked down the hall to the elevator in silence. When they got into the elevator they were the only two people in it, because it was nearly 3 AM and the hospital was pretty quiet. As they going down to the first floor Olivia broke the silence,

"Are you still mad at me?"

"What do you think Liv?"

"I think we should focus on finding that little girl's mother, and catching the bastard's who did that to her"

"That's what I'm doing. Yes I'm angry with you, but I'm not going to let it affect me finding those guys. That little girl deserves our full undivided attention. So that's what I'm doing"

"Okay"

"Okay"

Cragen called right as they were leaving the hospital and told them to get a few hours of sleep and then come into the station around 6 AM. So Elliot took Olivia and dropped her off at her apartment and then went home to get some sleep himself.

* * *

A/N: Okay there's that chapter. There's one thing I forgot to ask up at the top. Did anybody see the article they did on how they are having Mariska exit the show for her maternity leave? I saw a picture of her holding her neck and laying in what looked to be a pool of blood. So supposedly she gets injured somehow. I just hope that when she does get injured Elliot is there with her. Because I don't know if ya'll have noticed that whenever one of them has a very serious emotional case, the other one isn't in that episode. So let's hope if they are having Detective Benson get injured, that Elliot is there with her. Anyways, I'm not sure when that episode is supposed to air, but I think she is supposed to be gone for 6 of the episodes, I'm guessing the last 6 since her little boy is due in June. But they did say that she would be back for the last episode. Hmmm, not sure how they're gonna do that one. Anyways enough of my babbling, hope ya'll enjoyed. 


	4. Late

1A/N: Hey thanks for the reviews! Sorry about not answering the question about Oliver in the last chapter, I forgot. But he is only 10, no older than that, sorry about that. He is a little mature for his age, but you'll find out why later in the story. Thanks again for the reviews, sorry it took me so long to update, but here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Four: Late**

That next morning Oliver woke up around 7:45 AM and nearly fell out of bed when he saw the time. His mom usually always woke him up around 6:30 so that they both had time to get ready before they had to leave. His school started at 8:00 and she usually had to be in work no later than that. He immediately got out of bed and ran out of his room and into the living room, where he saw that there were no lights on at all. Then he walked towards his mom's bedroom and saw that the door was shut, which meant that she was at home. He knocked on it but received no answer, so he opened it up slowly and looked in. He saw her asleep on her bed so he walked into the room and over to her bed. He stood next to her and shook her a little trying to wake her up,

"Mom...Mom wake up. We're both going to be late"

"Hmmm...Five more minutes" she mumbled before rolling over and turning her back to him.

He shook his head before walking back towards the bedroom door and flipping on the light. He watched as she stirred slightly, but then relaxed again. He walked back over to her and shook her again,

"Mom...Mom get up"

Then he jumped over onto the other side of the bed, causing her to pop up,

"What...What is it? What's wrong?"

He shook his head at her and released a small smile at her reactions. She looked like she had just been scared out of her mind, which was plausible given what he had just done to her.

"Mom it's 7:50 we're both going to be late" he told her motioning towards the clock.

"What?" she said aloud as she turned from looking at her son to looking at the clock on her nightstand, "Oh my God, I must have forgotten to flip the alarm on"

"Obviously" he muttered with a smile

"Alright well lets get going. Do you want to stop down the street and pick up some donuts? Or do you just want to have a bowl of cereal?" she asked as she sat in bed looking at her son, who was sitting next to her.

"Umm Mom, you know how you've been real busy lately?"

"Yeah"

"I don't think you've been to the store in like three weeks"

"And?"

"And so there's no milk" he told her

"Oh, well what have you been eating?" she asked

"Dry cereal, Honeycomb is good that way" he answered

"Okay, well then, today when I get home from work we're going to the store" she told him as she ruffled his hair.

"So I guess we're having donuts" he commented

"Looks that way" she replied

"Cool" he smiled

"Okay well let's quit the chatting and get dressed so we can head out" she said as she got out of bed.

As soon as she stood up and had her back to Oliver, he smiled to himself, then he stood up on the bed and ran and jumped off, onto Olivia's back. She sensed him about to jump off of her bed and was ready to catch him.

"I had a feeling you were going to do that" she told him as she gave him a piggy back ride back to his room, "You know you're getting to old for this"

"Never" he laughed

When they got to his room, she turned her head a little to look at him and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding off of her back.

While Oliver was getting ready in his room, Olivia went back to her room to get ready. She wondered why Elliot hadn't called her cell or her apartment looking for her. But when she picked up her cell phone she found out why he couldn't reach her on that, the battery was dead, it must have died during the night. Then once she had gotten dressed and walked into the living room she saw why Elliot couldn't reach her on her land line either. She had been looking up some information on the internet and had forgotten to plug the phone line back in. She immediately plugged it back in and called Elliot on his cell.

"Liv is everything okay, I was just on my way over there" he told her

"Good morning to you too Elliot. My cell died and I forgot to plug my phone line back in last night after I was on the internet. Everything's fine" she told him

"What were you doing on the internet at 3 AM?" he asked her

"I wanted to check something out about Callie's family. Look my alarm didn't go off this morning so I'm running late. I'll be there as soon as I can okay" she told him

"You mean you forgot to set your alarm" he told her smiling

"Shut up, and quit smiling" she told him

"I'm not"

"Whatever. Look I'll see you in a little while okay"

"Okay"

A few minutes later Oliver came out of his room with his baggy blue jeans and oversized sweatshirt, and his black beanie that said, 'If you can't live on the edge, Why live at all?'

"Oliver, you know you aren't allowed to wear that outfit to school. I told you that when we bought all of that stuff. It was house clothes only. You look like a gangster" she told him, crossing her arms.

"Mom you haven't done laundry this week, and these are the only clean clothes I have left" he told her matter of factly.

"Okay but sweetie seriously, what's wrong with your blue Nike sweatshirt and blue Nike beanie?" she asked him

"I let Chad borrow my beanie last week at the park and I haven't gotten it back yet. And I dropped ketchup on my blue sweatshirt a few days ago" he told her

Olivia closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before uncrossing her arms and saying,

"Fine. Let's get going"

She opened the apartment door and ushered him out before following him, making sure to lock the door behind them. When she turned to follow him down the hall she noticed he didn't have any of his hockey stuff with him.

"Ollie did you forget your hockey gear" she asked

He stopped and waited for her to get beside him before looking up at her,

"Mom it's Friday"

"And?"

"And I don't have hockey practice on Friday's remember" he told her

"Oh yeah I forgot." she told him as she put her arm around his shoulders as they walked down the hall to the elevator together.

They got into their car and drove down a couple of blocks to where the donut place was. They parked the car and got out, walking inside together. They stood in line behind three other people waiting for their turn to order.

"Mom we are going to be really late" Oliver said, looking up at her

She looked down and smiled before saying,

"You can't honestly say you aren't happy about being late for school"

"Yeah, but don't you get in trouble when you're late?" he asked

"No worries, Elliot's covering for me" she told her son with a smile

"I like Elliot. He seems like a cool guy."

"Well I suppose he is pretty cool" she responded

After waiting about ten minutes it was finally their turn to order. They stepped up to the counter and the lady ready to take their order, stared at Oliver and then gave a disapproving look to Olivia.

"Excuse me do you have a problem with my son?" Olivia asked the lady

"No, but you do realize that it's almost 8:30. Most schools around here start at 8" she told Olivia

"Yeah and?" Olivia said to the lady

"Look it's people like you who don't make your kid go to school that cause all of the problems, these are the kids that end up getting involved in gangs and drug dealing and that kind of stuff" she told Olivia

Olivia smiled half heartedly before looking down at her son and then back to the lady.

"Look lady, you don't know my story okay. And for your information I'm a cop-"

"Oh so now you think you're better than me because you're a cop"

"I didn't say that. My son and I just woke up late and he's on his way to school now, but we had to have breakfast first, so can we please order now"

"You cops think you can do whatever you want, whenever you want" the lady said to Olivia

"Hey stop being so mean to my mom. She's a good cop, and I go to school every day, you're probably just jealous cause you don't have any kids" Oliver said, sticking up for his mother

"Ollie" Olivia said in a raised voice

"Sorry" he said, to both Olivia and the lady behind the counter

"Can we please just order so I can get to work and he can get to school"

"What do you want?" the lady asked annoyed

"Two chocolate covered and two plain, a glass of milk, and a cup of coffee, please" Olivia told the lady

Five minutes later they were sitting at a little table next to the window of the donut shop, both scarfing down their donuts and drinks. Once they had one donut eaten, they decided to head to the school. They got into the car and Olivia headed down the next two blocks to Oliver's school. They arrived at the school a little after 9 and noticed he had finished his other donut and his glass of milk. She wrote him a note explaining why he was late and handed it to him.

"You want me to walk you in?" she asked him as he grabbed his backpack

"Mom I'm ten, I'm not a baby" he told her

"Right, sorry. Hey you want a piece of gum?" she asked

"Yes please" he replied holding his hand out for the piece of Winter Fresh gum that she stuck in his hand.

"Baby are you getting a ride with Chad after school?" she asked as he stepped out of the car

"Mom, don't call me that anymore, geeze"

"Oh this coming from the kid who wanted a piggy back ride to his room"

"Mom shhh. Don't say that too loud. You never know who might hear you" he said looking around

"Hey kid, we are still in the car, I think it's safe" she laughed at him, "Now Chad's mom?"

"Yeah his mom said she would drop me off at home today" he told her

"Okay love you"

"Love you too mom" he replied as he shut the door and waved goodbye to her one last time before heading into the school.

Olivia raced the rest of the way to work and couldn't help but think about Callie. She knew there was more to that kid's life than what she had learned, and she knew that Callie's mother looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. She tried looking her name up on the internet, but to no avail. So she planned on looking up her name in the database a work to find out why she had looked so familiar.

She arrived at work a little after 9:30 and rushed in, trying to go unnoticed by the Captain and the others, however that didn't work. Right after she had sat down at her desk and received a smirk from Elliot she heard her name called from the Captain's office.

"Benson, my office now"

Elliot leaned over his desk and whispered,

"I did what I could, but I think he knows you were late, sorry"

"That's okay" she told him as she got up and headed to his office

Once she got into his office he sat down in his chair and motioned for her to sit down as well, which she did.

"Look Olivia if you have a rough day and need some extra time to sleep you could at least call and let me know"

"I know I'm sorry. And it wasn't that. It's just I forgot to set my alarm and my cell battery died, and my land line wasn't plugged in-"

"Olivia I'm not mad at you I just want to make sure you're okay with this case. It's not getting to you is it?" he asked

"Captain all cases get to me" she told him with half a smile

"That's not what I meant"

"I know. Look I'm fine okay, I really want to work this case. It's important, I made a promise to that little girl."

"Okay well take it easy okay, and if you need to talk I'm always here" he told her

"Thanks Captain. Is that it?"

"Yeah"

She nodded as she got up and exited his office and headed back over to her desk. After she sat down she could feel someone watching her, she looked up to find Elliot staring at her obviously waiting to know what happened in the office.

"I'm still on the case. He just wanted to make sure I'm not letting it get to me"

"All cases get to you...and me" he told her with a smile

"I know, that's what I told him"

He smiled before asking,

"So, how are things?"

She lowered her eyebrows and looked at him with a confused face, before she realized he was asking about Oliver.

"Oh, uh there good I guess"

"Good, so what's our next move with this case?" he asked

"Actually I was thinking about running Anna Blake through the database here, see if anything pops up"

"Why?"

"She looks familiar for some reason, but I just can't place it"

"Maybe you passed her in your hall one time" he suggested

"Maybe. But I don't think that's it" she told him

"Okay, well let's run the name then" he said

A few hours later they had the answer to their question of why Anna Blake looked so familiar.

"Oh my God, that's why she looked so familiar" Olivia said out loud while looking at the computer screen in front of her.

"Why, what did you find?" Elliot asked walking over to her and leaning over her to look at the screen.

"Do you remember her now El?" she asked as she turned slightly to look at him.

"Oh my God. She was raped...Seven years ago. That makes Callie-"

"Most likely the product of that rape" Olivia finished as she turned away from Elliot to look back at the screen.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter. I wanted to add a little more of Olivia and Oliver interacting with each other, so tell me what you think. Please! 


	5. Anna Blake's Past

1A/N: Oh my gosh so sorry it took me this long to update I totally lost track of time. My older brother just got married last weekend and I, as well as the rest of my family have been very distracted by anything else in our life. But here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!

Chapter Five: Anna Blake's Past 

After discussing their new findings on Anna Blake with their Captain, Elliot and Olivia went to look for the guy who had raped Anna seven years ago. They found him residing at an old rundown apartment complex. They entered the building and went up one flight of stairs to the second story. They found apartment 212 and knocked on the door but received no answer, after knocking again and stating it was the police, they still received no answer. So Elliot stepped back and kicked the door twice before it busted open. They both entered the apartment with their guns drawn and searched for any signs of the man being there, but they found nothing. They put their guns back in their holsters and began looking around his apartment for any clues that he was a rapist. Elliot was in the living room while Olivia searched his bedroom and neither of them heard when the man, known as Ted Mason, entered his apartment and found Elliot in his living room looking through his things. He grabbed a baseball bat out of his front hall closet and walked up behind Elliot wacking him in the back of the head, causing him to fall, but Ted caught him on the way down, knowing where there is one detective there is usually a partner around. Then he slowly crept to his bedroom door and looked in seeing a lady with her back turned, going through his dresser. He approached her faster than he had Elliot and she spun around just as he swung the bat and it connected with the side of her head, knocking her unconscious.

Ted Mason looked at her lying there on the floor and had to fight against doing anything else to her. He really wanted to have his way with her because she looked so beautiful, but he didn't want her partner to wake up and risk being caught again. So he grabbed some of his personal belongings and anything that might link him to a crime and then left the apartment.

About half an hour later Elliot woke up face down on the living room floor with a massive pain in the back of his head. As his eyes adjusted to the scene around him, he had to think about where he was, it wasn't anywhere he recognized. As he slowly sat up he grabbed the back of his head in pain, but when he did he felt something wet, so he brought his hand around to look at it and saw that it had blood on it. Then he remembered him and Olivia were at Ted Mason's apartment going through his stuff when something hit him from behind. Him and Olivia...

'Shit' he thought to himself as he got up as quickly as he could

"Olivia" he said out loud as he headed towards the bedroom, "Liv"

When he got to the doorway he saw her lying on her back, with her head turned to the side. He rushed over to her and knelt down beside her. He carefully turned her head to look at her , but when he did his hand was soaked in blood, again.

"Jesus...Liv. Can you hear me? Liv wake up" he said shaking her a little

She moaned a little before her eyes fluttered open and she saw that she was looking up into her partners blue eyes.

"Elliot?" she questioned confused, both about where she was and what had happened

"You okay Liv?" he asked taking her hand and helping her sit up

As soon as she did her hand went straight to her head. As she felt her temple area she noticed it was wet and when she looked at her hand it confirmed what she was thinking, she was bleeding.

"What the hell?" she said out loud

"I think our Ted Mason came home and found us snooping. I just don't think we realized how sneaky he could be" Elliot told her, "And I think you are going to need some stitches" he finished

"Are you okay?" she asked him

He nodded and said, "Nothing a few stitches can't fix" as he said that he turned his head around so that she could tell him how bad it was.

"Elliot that doesn't look good" she told him

"Oh and yours does" he said with a half smile

"I guess he already cleaned the place out" she asked looking around

"I don't know, let's find out" he said as he stood up and took her hand to help her up, but as she stood up she got dizzy and lost her balance. Elliot noticed and caught hold of her arms to steady her. Then he helped her sit on the bed as he went into the bathroom and got out two wash cloths and gave one to Olivia to hold to the side of her head, while Elliot attempted to hold his to the back of his head.

"Maybe we should call Munch and Fin and have them check the place out while we go to the hospital" he suggested

"I'm fine El. Besides I don't think either of us are in any condition to drive" she told him

"Alright then I will radio for an ambulance"

"Over my dead body Stabler"

"Hey we are going to have to get to the hospital somehow" he told her

She slanted her eyes at him as she watched him radio for some officers to stay at the crime scene before he called Munch and Fin to come search the apartment while they ran an errand.

Then he and Olivia got into their car and Elliot drove them both to the hospital. Once they got there they told the nurse at the desk that they were Detectives and that they needed to get back to their squad as soon as possible. After waiting a few minutes they were both taken back to one of the rooms to be looked at.

"Do you mind if the Doctor sees both of you at the same time?"the nurse asked

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before shaking their heads no.

"Okay then he will be in shortly" she told them as she walked out of the room

"So, $10 says the Doctor gets mad at you for driving us both here" Olivia wagered as she sat in a chair looking across at her partner who sat in another identical chair.

"You're on" he agreed reaching across and shaking her hand.

They were both sitting in silence slumped in their chairs with their bloodied wash cloths still pressed to their heads. Finally some fifteen minutes later the Doctor finally came in to look at them.

"Ah, Detective Stabler, correct?" the Doctor asked as he looked at him, "How's Dickie doing since he had his stitches removed?"

Olivia looked confusingly at Elliot who ignored her before answering the Doctor,

"He's doing fine. You know boys"

"Yes I do, mine get into more trouble than I think I ever did as a child" he told the Detective, "And this must be your partner?" he questioned looking over at Olivia

"Unfortunately I am" she said with a smile, "Olivia"

"Well I wish we were all meeting under better circumstances, but lets have a look a the two of you" the Doctor said walking over to Olivia first and removing the wash cloth which was now soaked in blood.

"Well you have definitely lost quite a bit of blood Detective. But I think you'll survive, you will have some headaches for the next few days and lots of bruising around this area" he told her as he touched the area around her temple which made her flinch slightly, "Sorry. You'll probably have a black eye as well because of the way you were hit. I'm guessing you were hit with some type of blunt object, like a pipe or bat"

"We didn't even look around for what we were hit with" Elliot said

"It was a bat" Olivia told both of them

"Are you sure?" asked Elliot

"Elliot I had just turned around when I saw a man swinging a bat at me, I didn't even have time to react" she commented

"All right well let me get you stitched up real quick" the Doctor told her as he walked over and got out the stitches and needle and the shot he was going to give her.

"All right I'm going to give you four shots to help deaden the pain of the needle"

"I know I've been stitched up before" she told him calmly.

With that the Doctor stitched Olivia's head up and gave her some pain medicine to help with the swelling and the headache that she had. Then the Doctor turned to Elliot with a needle already in his hand ready to give Elliot a shot in the back of his head, but Elliot pulled away.

"You're not sticking me with that thing are you?" Elliot asked worriedly

"Oh comeon Elliot, you aren't saying you're afraid of needles are you?" Olivia joked with him

"No...no I'm not" he told her

But as the Doctor walked around to stand behind him Elliot lept out of his chair.

"I think I'm fine, really, just give me a band aid and I'll be good to go" He told the Doctor

"Detective Stabler you need stitches, the cut is way to deep and your head is already swelling"

"Elliot sit down and relax" Olivia said, coaxing him to sit back down in his chair.

Then she pulled her chair up in front of his and looked into his eyes,

"Okay now just look at me and focus on something else, like your kids" she told him

The Doctor then took the needle and stuck him two times in the back of the head before Elliot pulled away again, nearly bumping heads with Olivia in the process.

"Ow Doc, what are you trying to do with that thing?" Elliot questioned

"Look Detective your going to have to relax. You still need two more shots"

"What? No, I don't think so" Elliot said standing up

"Elliot, will you please quit being a baby and sit down so we can get back to the precinct" Olivia pleaded with him

"Fine, but you owe me big time, and I'm not a baby, I just don't care for needles" he told her as he sat back down

"Right" she mumbled

The Doctor finally got Elliot stitched up and then gave him the same medicine he had given Olivia. Then he pulled out another shot to give to both Elliot and Olivia.

"What is that? I thought you were done poking us?" questioned Elliot

"It's just a precaution, since you were unconscious and found yourself in an apartment that neither of you had been to before, this is to make sure you don't get any infections" the Doctor told him

"No that's okay, I'll take my chances" Elliot told him

"Elliot do you want me to tell Dickie how scared you were when you had to be stitched up" Olivia threatened him

"You wouldn't"

"Oh I would, unless you stop being a baby and let the Doctor take care of you" she told him

"Fine" he pouted

The Doctor rolled up Elliot's sleeve to give him a shot in his arm. Elliot already had his eyes closed tightly and as soon as the Doctor rubbed his arm with the cotton ball Elliot gasped,

"Ow, ow, are you done?"

"Elliot it's just the cotton swab, geeze" Olivia told him as she smiled and rolled her eyes

"Oh, reallly?" Elliot said as he began to open his eyes. But just as he did the Doctor poked him with the needle

"Ow geeze" Elliot said out loud as the doctor pulled the needle back out of his arm

"See that wasn't so bad, was it Detective?"

"Yeah right"

Then the Doctor gave Olivia her shot in the arm and told them both the stitches would need to stay in for about a week. Just before he left the room he turned back around and looked at the both of them.

"You really shouldn't be driving either, just in case either of you have a concussion. Since you were both unconscious earlier, there's a chance that you could both have a small one. You didn't drive here did you?"

"Yeah" Elliot answered

"Well you aren't leaving here unless you have someone pick you up. It's too dangerous for you to be driving" he told them as he left the room

"Pay up Sissy" Olivia told him holding out her hand as she got up and put her jacket on.

"Comeone Liv" he whined

"Pay up or I will tell everyone how scared you are of needles" she told him with a smile

"You suck" he said reaching into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet, and pulling out a ten dollar bill

"Thanks Partner, it's been a pleasure doing business with you" she smiled at him as she walked out of the room, him following behind her.

They went into the waiting room and called Munch to see if he could pick them up on his way back to the station. After being made fun of he agreed and said that he and Fin would be there in about twenty minutes.

And some twenty minutes later Munch and Fin arrived with huge grins on their faces.

"Wow you two look like crap" Munch said to them

"Thanks Munch" Olivia said slightly annoyed, "I'm riding with Fin" she finished as she walked out of the hospital with Fin following her to her and Elliot's car.

"What did you do to her?" Munch asked Elliot as they headed to Munch's car

"Nothing, our heads just hurt really bad" Elliot told him

"Uh huh"

"Munch, just shut up and drive" he told him

They arrived back at the precinct and were informed that they had found nothing incriminating Ted Mason of any rapes or foul play since he had been released from prison a year ago.

"Well yeah he probably got whatever evidence there was after he clocked Olivia and me" Elliot commented as he sat in his chair with his feet up on his desk.

"I don't see why he has anything to do with the disapearance of Anna Blake and the four men that were seen at her apartment with her" Cragen said looking at all four of his detectives.

"He raped Anna Blake seven years ago Captain, and I believe that Callie was born nine months after that. I think that if we dig hard enough we are going to find more about Anna Blake than we bargained for. I think that her daughter was caught in the middle of whatever she was doing." stated Olivia

"That's a long shot Olivia. You searched the database for her and found nothing else but the fact that she reported being raped seven years ago. Other than that there was nothing, not even a parking ticket" Cragen told her

"I know but maybe she just hasn't gotten caught yet. I mean why else would she let a child molester, and a drug dealer into her apartment when she had a six year old daughter at home" questioned Olivia

"Maybe because she didn't really care about the little girl, she was too concerned with whatever they were doing" Fin suggested

"Yeah maybe she went downhill when she found out she was pregnant" Munch added

"Why didn't she just take the medicine they give you at the hospital after you're raped?" asked Olivia

"I think I read in some file that she was allergic to quite a bit of stuff and that might have been why she didn't take it" said Elliot

"Maybe after she had Callie she couldn't bear the thought of how she came into the world and it depressed her and somehow she ran into one of the four guys and she got involved in whatever they were doing" Fin suggested

Elliot looked across his desk at Olivia, knowing that this conversation had to be striking her too personally. His heart went out to her, knowing there was nothing he could do to change her past. But he knew that she was thinking that there was a way to change Callie's future.

"Maybe we should go talk to Callie and see if she remembers those men always being around, or if they just recently started showing up" suggested Elliot as he put his feet down off of the desk and looked at Olivia who nodded.

"Okay while you two do that Munch and Fin can check out the apartments of the four men that were last seen with them." Cragen told the four detectives

With that all four detectives walked out of the precinct together and seperated to their designated cars, each pair heading away and hoping for a new lead.

* * *

A/N: Well hope ya'll enjoyed that chapter. It wasn't what I had planned on for this chapter but it just came to me so I added it in. Well please review and let me know if ya'll liked it. Thanks! 


	6. The Search

**Chapter Six: The Search**

Elliot and Olivia got to the hospital and headed straight for Callie's room. When they got there they looked through her hospital room door and saw that she was watching TV. They opened the door and walked in, Callie's attention immediately turning away from the television and focusing on who had come through the door.

"Hi Olivia" Callie said with a smile

"Hi sweetheart" she replied as she walked up next to Callie's bed.

Callie's eyes got really big when she saw Olivia's face.

"Did the bad men do that to you?" she asked looking up at the detective

"Well one bad man did" she told the little girl

"Are you okay?" Callie asked

"I'm fine sweetie. Elliot and I wanted to ask you a few more questions, if that's okay"

Callie looked from Olivia to Elliot, who was now standing beside Olivia.

"Okay"

Elliot got two chairs that were at the foot of the bed and brought them over for him and Olivia to sit at. But when he did Callie noticed the back of his head.

"Elliot you got hurt too?" the little girl questioned

"Yeah but I'm okay. You don't need to worry about us, okay" he told her with a smile

"But I don't want you to get hurt because of me" she told them

"Sweetie it's not your fault" Olivia told her reaching her hand out to Callie and taking her smaller hand in her own.

"Callie can you tell us how long those men have hung around with your mom?" Elliot asked

"I don't know"

"Well have they always been around?" he asked

Callie thought long and hard before she looked up at Elliot and smiled,

"Only my mom's boyfriend has been around forever. The other men I met when I was five"

"Okay so they have been around for about a year" Olivia said, mainly to Elliot

He nodded and then looked back over at Callie,

"Do you think they were a friend of your mom's? Or her boyfriend?"

"I don't know" she answered sadly

"That's okay sweetie, you did great" Olivia told her as she squeezed her hand

"So how are you feeling?" Elliot asked, changing the subject

"Better. My tummy doesn't hurt as bad"

"That's good. Looks like your getting better pretty fast" he told her with a smile

"Are you going to find my mom before I get out of the hospital" she asked both of them

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other before Olivia looked down at the little girl,

"We are going to try"

"I don't want to go to the place where bad little girls go"

"What?" asked Olivia confused

"I've been there before and I don't want to go back" Callie said as she began to cry

"Oh sweetie, it's okay" Olivia told her as she moved from the chair to sitting on the bed with Callie.

As soon as she sat down on the bed Callie threw her arms around Olivia's neck and cried into her chest.

"Don't make me go there"

"Sweetie you have to tell me what place this is"

"Mommy told me I was bad last time and that's why I was took there"

"Baby I need you to tell me what it was like" Olivia asked gently as she rocked the little girl back and forth in her bed.

The little girl cried for a little longer before she described the place to Olivia.

"There were other little girls there. They came and got me from my house"

"Who did?" asked Olivia

"The people with the badges. They told me that mommy didn't want me anymore so I had to go there with the other girls"

"Hey sweetheart, were you home alone when the people came to get you?" asked Elliot who was still sitting in the chair beside the bed.

"Uh-huh"

"How long had you been there by yourself?" he asked

"I don't know"

"Was it longer than a day?" he asked

"I think so"

Elliot looked at Olivia and motioned to his phone, to which she just nodded. He got up to walk to the door, but turned back to Olivia and Callie,

"You did great Callie. You're a very brave little girl"

Before leaving the room he took one last look at his partner and the little girl that she was rocking back and forth and smiled. Then he went out into the hall to call the Captain to find out if Callie had ever been in some type of group home.

Elliot talked to the Captain for about fifteen minutes before he was told that Callie had been taken to a group home for girls when she was almost five years old. The neighbors had called the police after they hadn't seen Anna Blake in three days. The police checked up on it the next day and found Callie in the apartment by herself so they took her to the group home where she stayed for almost three weeks before they found her mother. Actually Anna Blake had contacted them when she arrived back at her apartment one night and couldn't find Callie. Social Services didn't want to return the little girl to her mother, but the mother told them that she had hired a babysitter to take care of Callie for a month while she was out of town. After checking out that story they found that she was telling the truth and that she had payed a woman in advance for babysitting, but the woman only showed up one time right before Anna left and then the woman left the little girl alone and took off with the money.

After Elliot had hung up with the Captain he thought about what Callie had said. She had said that bad little girls go there. He was guessing that Anna Blake got someone to pose as a babysitter so that she had an alibi as to why she would have left her five year old daughter alone. Then when the police took her to Social Services Anna Blake found out and got angry. She probably told Callie she was a bad little girl and that's why she had left her and why she was taken to the group home.

Elliot walked back over to the door to Callie's hospital room and looked through the glass window to check on his partner and the little girl. He saw that Olivia was still holding Callie but that she was now sitting more comfortably on the bed with her back up against the wall. It looked like Callie might have fallen asleep in Olivia's arms and Elliot couldn't help but smile at them.

He decided to give Olivia a few more minutes, so he went down the hall to the break room and got two cups of coffee, one for him and one for Olivia. Then he went back to Callie's room and opened the door as quietly as he could. He smiled at Olivia, who returned the smile, before slowly getting up off of the bed and then turning and laying Callie down in the bed. Elliot watched as Olivia pulled the covers up over Callie and kissed her goodnight. Then she turned and followed Elliot out the door.

"Thought you could use this" he said handing her the cup of coffee he had gotten her.

"Thanks" Olivia answered taking the cup from him

"So what should we do?" he asked her as they turned and walked down the hallway to the elevator.

"I suppose we could call Munch and Fin and see what they got" she suggested as they stepped into the elevator along with four other people.

Elliot just nodded as the elevator opened on another floor and two more people got in, causing one man to get shoved into the side of Olivia, which caused her to lose her balance and turn, falling into Elliot's chest, spilling both of their coffee's on both of their shirts.

"Oww, ow, hot" Olivia yelped along with Elliot, as they both grabbed their shirts and tried to pull the material away from their skin.

"I'm so sorry" said the man who had bumped into Olivia

"It's okay not your fault" Elliot told the man as the elevator finally made it to the ground floor.

Elliot and Olivia both got off of the elevator and ran into the nearest restrooms, both stripping away their shirts and soaking them under the water at the bathroom sinks. Some ten minutes later Olivia came out of the restroom and saw Elliot waiting for her. When he saw her he couldn't help but smile. She had put her wet shirt back on and had her jacket pulled around her, to try and hide the fact that her shirt was soaked.

"Shut up" she glared at him

"Hey it's a good look for you Liv" he laughed as they walked out of the hospital and to their car.

"Yeah well it's not fair for you. All you had to do was take off your dress shirt and leave your tank on" she said as they got to their car

"Hey men's tanks are called beaters" he told her as he unlocked the car, "Besides my beater is wet also, see" he said opening his jacket and showing her the big wet circle around his chest"

"Yeah well yours doesn't reveal as much"

"Who said that was a bad thing" he smiled as they got in

"Elliot Stabler I'm going to pretend you didn't say that" she laughed as they both buckled up

They decided to stop by the precinct, where they both had an extra shirt in their lockers. They changed and then Elliot made a call to Munch who told him that they had already been to two of the guys apartments, but there was no sign that anyone had been there in a few days. Elliot told Munch that he and Olivia would check out Andrew McKay's apartment while Munch and Fin stopped by Thomas Staton's apartment.

Olivia and Elliot arrived at the apartment complex where Andy McKay supposedly lived. They both looked at each other before they got out of the car and walked up to the door.

"Wow, this place is nice" commented Olivia

"Yeah and there's probably a nice price to it" Elliot added

They rang some different people in the complex to try and get someone to let them in. After going through about five people one man finally buzzed them in.

"It's pretty hard to get in here too" said Olivia

Elliot nodded as they walked up to the elevator. They got in and went up to the fourth floor, which is the floor Andy was supposed to live. They got out of the elevator and walked down the hallway until they found Apartment 423. Elliot knocked and waited for any kind of response from the other side. He knocked again before saying,

"Andrew McKay it's the police, open up, we have a warrant to search the apartment"

When they still received no answer Elliot looked at Olivia who nodded her head and stepped back so that Elliot could step back and kick open the door. Once he did they went inside with their guns drawn, but found nobody. But as they looked around they could tell that someone hadn't been there in a few days. They began to search for anything that might be useful in finding Anna Blake or any of the other men who were most likely involved in her disappearance. As Elliot was looking through the closet he pulled down a shoe box and found a bag of cocaine inside.

"Liv check this out" he said stepping out of the closet where she could see him. He held up the bag and she just smiled.

"Well jail time definitely didn't change him" she said

"Yeah and I'm betting that something went wrong somewhere and that's why he hasn't come back to his apartment. Because I doubt this guy would leave drugs around when he knew the police would most likely search his place"

Olivia didn't respond to anything Elliot had said and he thought that was a little strange so he stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room where he saw that Olivia had the couch turned over and had another large stash of cocaine in her hand. She turned when she heard Elliot behind her.

"Well I'm guessing he is definitely still selling the stuff" she said still kneeling, taking her knife and cutting the whole bottom of the sofa. As she did nothing but bags of cocaine fell out onto the floor.

"Yeah this guy was definitely still in the game" Elliot agreed

After collecting all of the evidence needed Elliot and Olivia returned to the precinct to compare notes to Munch and Fin. Munch and Fin revealed that they found nothing unusual at any of the apartments, except a stash of child pornography on Thomas Staton's computer. They had searched John Master's apartment but found nothing, not even a trace that Anna Blake had ever been there, but that to all four detectives seemed strange.

While they were all sitting at their desks trying to figure out what to do next Elliot was going through all of the men's files again, to see if they missed something.

"He has house on Staton Island" Elliot said out loud

"What?" Fin questioned from his own desk

"John Mastershas a house on Staton Island" he told the other three detectives as he looked intently at the file.

He then looked across his desk at Olivia and the look on her face told him she was ready to check it out.

"Let's go check it out" she said

"Fin and I will go get a warrant from Casey and meet you guys up there" said Munch, as he and Fin got up and headed out the door.

"All right let's go" said Elliot as he and Olivia both got up, grabbed their jackets and headed out.

By the time Munch and Fin got to Staton Island Olivia and Elliot had been waiting for them for an hour, at least. They were parked down the street fromJohn's house, so Munch and Fin pulled up behind them and parked their car. They were waiting for their local backup to arrive, which Cragen had gladly called in. Their backup soon arrived and all four detectives had suited up in their bullet proof vests, just in case.

They snuck up to the large two story house as quietly as they could. Elliot and Olivia took the front door with two backup police officers, while Munch and Fin took the back door, along with two other police officers. Elliot knocked and announced it was the police.

"Open up, police, we have a warrant"

When there was no response Elliot busted down the front door as Munch and Fin did the same in the back. Munch and Fin took the downstairs, while Olivia and Elliot took the upstairs. Elliot and Olivia entered all four of the upstairs bedrooms with their guns drawn and the two uniformed officers backing them up. Just before they checked the last bedroom they heard Munch give the all clear downstairs. When Elliot swung open the master bedroom door, no one was prepared for what they saw.

Anna Blake was dangling from the ceiling, a rope around her throat, that was then attached to one of the cedar beams that decorated the ceiling. It looked as though the whole thing was carefully planned out on how she was to be hung. There was a large hook in the side of the beam that the rope went through and then it went across the ceiling and down the wall until the end of the rope was tightly tied to a ring on the window sill. She was left only in her underwear and there were clear bruises and burns all over her body.

Elliot turned back to Olivia who looked like she was going to be sick. Olivia just turned around and walked out of the bedroom and looked over the railing down to the living room where she saw Munch and Fin looking up at her.

"We found Anna Blake" she told them as they looked up at her.

They climbed the stairs and walked to the doorway of the master bedroom and looked in to see Anna Blake hanging from the ceiling. Elliot was still in the bedroom looking around for any clues that would place any of the four men in that bedroom. While he was doing that Fin called CSU to have them come and dust for fingerprints and all the other stuff that they did.

All four of the detectives decided they should wait until CSU got there and did their thing before they did any more snooping. So they all went downstairs and outside into the front yard. Olivia sat down on the front steps, while Fin and Munch walked all the way back out to the street to wait for CSU. Elliot was the last one out of the house after the uniformed officers went to tape off the area, and he saw Olivia sitting on the steps so he sat down beside her.

"You okay?" he asked without looking at her

"What am I going to tell her?" she said still looking straight ahead, out into the street.

"You don't have to tell her anything"

She turned to Elliot her eyes slanted, "I should just let some stranger tell her, is that it"

"No, Liv, it's just...You're getting so attached to her"

"And that's a bad thing" she said looking at him, "She doesn't have anybody else"

"I know that she reminds you of yourself, but-"

"Elliot don't start that crap with me okay" she said angrily as she stood up off the steps and turned around to face him.

"Okay, okay" he said throwing his hands up.

"Look I don't want to argue with you Olivia, I just want to know if you're okay" he said sincerely, looking up at her

Olivia shrugged her shoulders as she looked at the ground, before looking back at Elliot. He saw that she was fighting back the urge to cry and all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But he didn't know if it was.

"I promised her we'd find her mom" she said to Elliot while still looking at the ground.

"Liv, we did everything we could"

"Are you sure about that El, because I'm not" she said as she looked at him

She then walked back over to the steps and sat back down beside him.

"The way her mother was portrayed by other people it's probably better for Callie" Elliot said

"She won't think so, she's only six. When I was six I thought my mom was the best mom in the world." Olivia laughed as she said the last part, "How wrong was I, huh"

Elliot turned to look at Olivia and she had a smile on her face.

"Now when I look back, I think, gosh it would have been better for me if someone would have just taken me away from her" she said, turning to look at Elliot, the tears still evident in her eyes.

"Liv"

"It's no big deal Elliot, I'm fine, my past is in the past. But this little girl, I'm going to make sure she has one hell of a future" she said as she stood up and looked around at all of the nice houses, "I'm going to find the best family for her"

Elliot smiled as he listened to her and watched as she let a small smile escape her lips when she was talking about finding the best family for Callie.

"Isn't that Social Services job" he said with a smile

She turned back around and looked at him before smiling and saying,

"Well yes, but I'm going to make sure that I have the final say"

Elliot let a small laugh escape him and before he could respond CSU had arrived, so it was back to the case and the murder of Anna Blake. It seemed the deeper they dug the worse the case became.

* * *

A/N: Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and please keep up the great reviews, it always makes me want to write more and try to make each chapter better than the last one. Oh yeah and if you're reading this before the episode "Fault" is aired tonight then all I can say is Oh my gosh I have so been waiting for this episode for a long time, and I am so ready for it to be night time so that I can watch it. Anyways pleeeeeasssse don't forget to review. Thanks! 


	7. Season 7 Update on Episodes

1**Season 7 Update on Episodes**

For those of you who are interested in how many episodes are left this season, the answer looks to be about three episodes. Originally I had heard that there were going to be about five or six episodes left after 'Fault', but when I was looking at spoilers for the rest of this season it looks as though they changed their minds and are now only going to air three of those five in season 7. I guess they are saving the other two for Season 8 due to Mariska's pregnancy. I won't give anything away for any of those episodes but I got my information from source: thexfactor264/misterx. Oh and I also heard the next episode is not going to air until May 2, so stay tuned.

As far as my story I'm working on the next chapter and hopefully will have it up some time next week, so until then. Peace Out!

The link where you can find the spoilers for the rest of season 7 is:

http/www.svufans. 


	8. Reactions Part 1

A/N: Oh my gosh it took me so much longer to update than I thought it would, I was pretty speechless after I saw 'Fault', and I had writers block, can you believe that? Anyways I loved that episode, but was anybody else expecting an actual stakeout? Because I had heard that they were supposed to be on a stakeout like sitting in a car or something and talking? Not that I'm complaining because it was a kickass episode.

Has anyone else seen the previews for United 93? Because Mariska's husband Peter portrays one of the passengers on the plane in that movie. I just thought that was interesting. That and the fact he guess starred in like four or five episodes of Beautiful People. I don't know if anybody has ever seen that show on abc family. Anyways enough blabbing and onto the story.

**Chapter Seven: Reactions Part 1**

It had been a couple of hours since Elliot and Olivia had arrived back at the precinct after getting the new crime scene secured and searched. Unfortunately they didn't find any evidence incriminating any of the four men that they knew were involved. The only real evidence they had was that she had obviously been killed and hung in John Master's house. Well that and the fact that Olivia's ten year old son had seen the four men at Anna Blake's house and had seen her dragged out of her apartment and pushed into a black suburban.

Olivia was sitting at her desk, her elbows on her desk and her hands laced together, her forehead resting on them. Elliot was sitting across from her, knowing she was mentally kicking herself for not working harder to find Callie's mother. Even though Elliot and everyone else knew they had done everything they could, with the information that they had.

"Olivia" Elliot said leaning over his desk to talk to his partner, but she didn't answer

"Liv it's not your fault" he told her

Without looking up at Elliot she answered,

"I know. I mean I still feel responsible in some way, but I'm really concerned about Callie"

Elliot smiled, figuring the little girl had something to do with the way his partner was acting.

"You're trying to figure out to tell her about her mom" he stated, more so than asked

Olivia finally looked up, dropping her arms down to her desk before crossing them and tilting her head to the side, revealing a half smile.

"How did you get to know me so well?" she questioned

"It's a gift really" he replied with a smile as he leaned back in his chair, his hands laced behind his head.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh, for the first time since this case had started, she really laughed. The laugh that he fell in love with over the last eight years, and he couldn't help but smile at her.

"You are so full of yourself" she managed to squeak out through her laughter

"Oh comeon Liv, you know that's what you love about me" he teased her

"You wish Stabler" she said rolling her eyes

The laughter and jokes didn't last very long, when Cragen called both of them into his office. They got up and walked into his office, shutting the door behind them.

"We need to find out as much information about these four men as we possibly can. There have got to be people out there that know them personally. Whether it be drug dealers or other child molesters, I don't care we just need to get these perps off the streets, before they get to the little girl" Cragen told his two detectives

"Yeah Cap, we know" Elliot told him

"Who is this witness that saw these men at Anna Blake's apartment?" asked Cragen

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before Elliot answered,

"He's just a kid Captain"

"So are you saying he's unreliable?"

"No I'm just saying, until we actually find the bastards I don't think we should drag him into it" Elliot told him

"Well Elliot he's already been dragged into it. That happened when he saw those men stuff Anna Blake into a car. Remember that?"

"Yeah but Captain-" Olivia began

"I don't know why you two are making excuses for this kid. We've worked with a lot of kids, on a lot of different cases, what's so different about this one?" Cragen questioned them, wanting an honest answer. He knew his detectives and he knew there was something else involving this kid, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"His mother doesn't want him to be involved unless we find the perps first. She's afraid he might get hurt or killed" Elliot told him

"Well we can protect him and his mother. Did you tell her that?"

Elliot tried to suppress a smile from forming on his face as he replied,

"Yeah Captain, believe me, this lady does not want any protecting from anybody"

"Well you tell her that I will get a subpoena that orders him to come in and tell us everything he knows"

"Captain can we talk to him again first. I mean I know the kid and he's a good kid, his mom can just be a little overprotective"

"Okay, look I don't want to cause problems, but we could really use his help. Especially if he has met the guys or might have overhead something about them that could help us"

"I know Captain, I'll see what I can do" Olivia told him as she and Elliot turned to leave the office.

"Oh, and Olivia?" Cragen said

"Yeah"

"Have you made it to the hospital yet to tell the little girl?"

"No, I was just about to head down there"

"Okay, just don't get to attached" he told her

Olivia smiled and nodded before she and Elliot left Cragen's office and headed back to their desks. Instead of sitting down at her desk she went over to the coat rack and grabbed her coat along with Elliot's. She turned around and threw his coat to him. He smiled as he caught his coat and they walked to the elevator together.

"So I get to come with you?" he asked her

"Well I can't just leave you here to fend for yourself once Munch and Fin get back" she told him, "Besides before I go to the hospital I thought we could stop by my place and talk to our witness again"

Once they got into the Sedan and were driving to Olivia's place Elliot started a conversation.

"You know we'll get everything worked out with Oliver"

"Elliot don't" she told him

"Don't what?"

"Don't pretend that everything's going to be alright, because it's not"

"Liv-"

"Elliot once we find these guys Oliver is going to have to testify. He's going to have to get up in front of a judge, state his name, and tell a court everything he saw, and probably everything he knows about these guys" she said as she turned and looked out her passenger window.

Elliot didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride to Olivia's place. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was, so he remained quiet.

They got to Olivia's apartment and when they went inside, they found Oliver sound asleep on the couch with the tv on, still wearing his soccer clothes from soccer practice. Olivia smiled at her son before sitting on the edge of the couch, next to him. She took her hand and brushed his bangs out of his eyes before kissing his forehead. He stirred a little bit, but it wasn't enough to wake him up, and Elliot couldn't help but smile.

"Well, at least I know where he gets his sleeping habits from" he joked to Olivia

"Yeah well he didn't always sleep this good" she told him, slightly under her breath, but he still heard her.

"What do you mean?" he asked her

"Nothing, never mind" she said as she carefully shook her ten year old son

"Hmmm...What?...Not hungry" he mumbled as he turned his head away from Olivia

Olivia let out a small laugh before shaking Oliver again, "C'mon sweetie, it's mom. I need to ask you something"

"Mmm...What?" he asked turning his head back towards her voice, but keeping his eyes closed.

"Baby I need to talk to you about the men who took Callie's mom"

Instead of responding he opened his eyes and looked at up at his mother, before spotting Elliot standing behind the couch.

"Why? Did something bad happen?" he asked, still laying down on the couch

"Sweetie, something did happen but-"

"Is Callie okay?" he asked immediately sitting up

"Yes Callie's okay. We were on our way to see her, but I needed to stop by here and ask you some more questions" she told her son

"Can I go with you to see her?" he asked using that puppy face that immediately turned his deep brown eyes into pleading puppy eyes, "Please?"

Olivia couldn't help but smile, because when he did that she found it very hard to say no to him.

"Actually I think that might be a good idea since we are going to talk to her about her mom"

"What about her mom?" he asked

When Olivia didn't answer Oliver glanced from his mother to Elliot who had a sad expression on his face, as did his mother.

"Mom...What happened? Is Ms. Blake okay?" he asked just above a whisper

"No baby, Ms. Blake isn't okay. She...she died" she told her son

"Oh"

"Baby when did you get home from soccer practice?" she asked changing the subject

"About an hour ago. I was going to watch some tv while I ate, but I guess I fell asleep"

"And obviously before taking a shower" Olivia told her son with a smile

"Mom" Oliver said, rolling his eyes at her

"What? You are stinky" she told him with a laugh

"Hey I don't complain to you when you come home smelling" he told her

"That's because I don't"

"Keep telling yourself that mom" he told her with a smile

Olivia's mouth went wide, as did her eyes, at her son's remark.

"Oliver Matthew Benson! When have I come home smelling bad?" she asked

"Well there was that time you came home smelling like garbage a couple of weeks ago" he stated

Olivia crinkled her forehead deep in thought of what could have made her smell a couple of weeks ago, and then she remembered, but before she could respond, Elliot answered for her.

"That's probably when she went dumpster diving" he laughed thinking back to two weeks ago when they were fishing for clues to one of their cases in dumpsters.

"You were crawling around in a dumpster?" Oliver asked, looking at his mother

"Hey I wasn't the only one, he was too" she said pointing at Elliot

"That's gross, no wonder you smelled" he told his mom

"Well he told me I didn't smell" she said pointing at Elliot again

"Hey you didn't smell to me, but maybe my senses were blocked by my own self smelling" he told her

They both let out a laugh, while Oliver just stared at them,

"You guys are weird"

"We don't think so" Olivia told her son as she ruffled his hair and then crinkled her nose.

"Tell you what, why don't you go take a shower, I'll call in some Chinese food, we'll eat, then talk, then we'll go see Callie" Olivia told him

"That's the longest list ever" Oliver said

"Just go take a shower buddy" she told him as she stood up, turning her back to him

Elliot watched Oliver as he sat up on his knees on the couch before getting in a squatting position, with a huge smile on his face. Elliot looked at him a bit puzzled as Oliver called his mother.

"Okay, hey mom, one more thing" he said his smile growing even wider as she began to turn around.

As soon as she turned around he pounced on her, springing off the couch like a trampoline, and wrapping his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist, as she stood there completely stunned.

"Now who's gonna smell" he laughed hysterically as he held onto her tighter

"Oliver you stink, get down right now" Olivia told him sternly, but with a smile on her face

"I will, as soon as I get my smell to rub off on you" he laughed

"Ollie you are going to pay for this" she told him as she tried to wriggle him off of her, but to no avail.

Elliot stood there laughing at the interaction between the two of them. He always figured that Olivia would make a good mom, he just didn't realize that she _was_ a_ great_ mom.

"Oliver I am serious don't make me do it" Olivia told her son

"You wouldn't, Elliot will protect me" Oliver told his mom

This caught Elliot's attention and he looked at the two with a confused look on his face.

"Oh I'll do it and there is nothing he is going to be able to do about it" she told her son

"Mom-"

Before he could finish the sentence Olivia had jumped onto the couch Oliver going down first and then Olivia on top of him but she braced herself against the cushions so that she didn't squish him. Then she started tickling him, immediately causing him to let go of her and laugh, once again hysterically, as he tried to defend himself against her.

"Mom...Stop...Okay...Truce" he managed to get out through his fits of laughter

Elliot stood there laughing at the two of them the whole time, wishing he would have known about Oliver a long time ago.

Olivia stopped tickling her son and slowly leaned back against the arm rest of the couch, as her son continued to lay on his back and catch his breath.

"That'll teach you to pull a trick like that again" she told him with a smile

"Maybe, but you are still going to smell now" he told her with a smile before jumping up off of the couch and running to the bathroom.

Olivia just shook her head as he ran off, then she turned to Elliot who had a huge smile on his face.

"What?" she asked

"Nothing, just laughing at you two" he told her as he walked towards her kitchen to pull out a menu from a Chinese place, "So what do you want to order?"

"Well Oliver and I usually get Hunan Chicken and Shrimp Lo Mein and split it between us, although we usually have a lot left. What do you usually eat?" she asked him

"I don't know, both of those sound good, but I'm kind of in the mood for Szechuan Chicken"

"That sounds good too, Oliver doesn't like real spicy stuff so I never get it" she told him

"Well then we are going to get it tonight" he told her as he picked up the phone and dialed the number to the Chinese Restaurant and ordered all three dinners.

Once he had hung up he walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Olivia.

"Wow, you do kind of smell now Liv" he told her

She turned and slapped him on the arm, "Elliot!"

"What? The kid is good" he told her with a smile

Olivia shook her head before asking him,

"How long till the food gets here?"

"They said about twenty minutes"

"Okay well I'll just jump in the shower once Ollie gets out"

"Olivia I was just joking, you don't smell" he told her

"Yeah well I don't trust you. Besides I'll just take a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans and a t shirt and then I'll be ready. Fifteen minutes tops"

Elliot rolled his eyes, "Yeah right"

"Excuse me?" she asked him

"Olivia are you forgetting that I have lived in a house with four women. Dickie and I never stood a chance when we needed to get in the bathroom" he told her

"Well you can time me then, cause I'm not going out to dinner or anything. I'm just going to the hospital, I don't need an hour to get ready for that" she told him matter of factly

Just then Oliver came out of the bathroom in jeans and a blue t-shirt that said 'You know you want me.'

When Olivia saw him with that t-shirt her mouth got wide.

"Oliver Matthew Benson, where did you get that t-shirt?" she asked him

Elliot immediately turned to see what he was wearing and couldn't help but chuckle, causing Olivia to turn and glare at him, which immediately shut him up.

"It's Chad's, I thought it was funny so he let me borrow it for the week" he told his mother

"Well you aren't wearing that out in public. You're only ten years old, not sixteen" she told her son

"Mom it's the only clean t-shirt I have and I'm going to have on a sweatshirt"

"Oh yeah, well then, you have to keep the sweatshirt on everywhere we go"

Oliver rolled his eyes as he said, "Okay"

He then headed to his bedroom while Olivia went to her bedroom to grab her clothes before heading into the bathroom. Once Olivia was in the shower Elliot settled more comfortably on the couch and started flipping through the channels on tv. A few minutes later Oliver came out of his room and walked over to the couch, plopping down beside Elliot.

"So...What position do you play in soccer?" Elliot asked the boy

"Forward" he answered watching the television

"Cool. How long have you been playing?"

"A couple years"

"Since you moved back in with your mom?" he asked looking down at the boy

Oliver looked cautiously at Elliot out of the corner of his eye before turning to look up at him.

"How did you know?"

"She told me"

"Oh" Oliver replied looking down at the floor

"So what made you decide to move back in with your mom?" he asked, still looking at the boy

Oliver shrugged his shoulders but didn't answer the question.

"Well I guess I could just ask your mom about it huh?" said Elliot

Oliver looked back up at Elliot, "I know she hasn't told you why I was living with my dad. She hasn't told anyone. And I'm not going to tell you or anybody else either. Not unless she says it's okay"

"Okay that's fine" Elliot told the boy, "I'm sorry"

"For what?"

"Bringing it up"

Oliver nodded turning his attention back to the television before saying,

"It's okay. You seem like a cool guy"

"Thanks. You're pretty cool yourself. Where did you get that from?" Elliot joked with Oliver.

However he didn't hear Olivia open the door to the bathroom, all he heard was,

"That's funny Elliot"

Elliot turned to see Olivia standing in the doorway of the bathroom in jeans and little t-shirt, her hair still soaked.

"Oh hey, I didn't hear you come out"

"Obviously"

"The food's not here yet, but it should be here any minute" he told her

"Okay well I'm going to go dry my hair" she said walking back to her bedroom.

Just as she did there was a knock on the door. Elliot got up and answered it, finding the guy with their Chinese food. He payed the guy and then went over to the table and set the food down.

"Liv the food is here" he yelled to her even though he doubted that she was going to hear him over her blow dryer.

"I'll get her" Oliver said getting off of the couch and heading to his mother's room

A couple minutes later Oliver and Olivia both came out of her bedroom and headed over to the table to join Elliot.

"Mmm this smells good" Olivia said as she sat down at the table next to Elliot

They ate their dinner and then cleaned up what was left before Olivia sat back down at the table next to Oliver.

"Sweetie I need to talk to you about the men that took Ms. Blake"

"Okay" he answered

"Did you ever overhear them talking about places they had been or places they were going to go?"

"They talked about places they had been but that's about it"

"Okay. Did you ever overhear them say anything about a hideout?" she asked her son

"No, I mean I didn't know them that good or anything mom. I didn't trust them. The only times I ever really talked to them is when I went over there to get Callie." he told her

"Okay sweetie" she said turning to look at Elliot

"But Callie did tell me something a couple of weeks ago" Oliver said, getting Olivia to turn her attention back to him

"What?"

"She said she heard John say something about making her mom pay for what she did"

"But you didn't hear him say that?"

Oliver averted his eyes from his mother to the floor and she knew there was something more to the story.

"Ollie, what aren't you telling me?" she asked placing her hand on his knee

He looked back up at his mother before saying,

"I don't want you to be mad at me"

"Ollie if you know something you have to tell me. For Callie" she told her son

"I went over there the next day after school because I heard yelling coming from our hallway. When I knocked on the door, I heard a man yell to go away, but I didn't. I knocked again until he answered the door. He was really pissed mom" he said, looking at Olivia

Olivia nodded her head, ushering her son to continue with his story.

"I asked if Callie could come over and play and Andrew just stared at me. Then I heard her crying and I tried to look around Andrew but he was blocking her. I got really mad and I told him that he better let Callie come over and play or I was going to call the cops and tell them that he had hurt her"

"Oliver" Olivia said shocked

"He got really pissed then. I think he had been drinking cause he smelled like beer. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside the apartment and threw me into the wall. He told me that if I ever called the police about any of them that he would kill Callie and me"

"Oliver Matthew Benson" Olivia said angrily, "How many times have I told you not to leave this apartment when you're home alone"

"See mom, I knew you would be pissed" he said pulling away from her

"Oliver, can you see why I am pissed. I specifically made those rules so that nothing like that would happen. You could have been killed" she said shaking her head

"Can I finish my story. Because you're going to be even madder when you hear the rest" he told his mom

Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them back up and nodding her head for him to continue.

"I saw Callie curled up and the couch and she was crying, but I didn't see anybody else around, so I ran over to her and asked her if she was alright, but she wouldn't stop crying and I could see the bruise on her face. I got really pissed mom and turned around and started yelling at Andrew. That's when John came out of the bedroom and saw me. He said 'What's the stupid neighbor kid doing here' and Andrew told him that I threatened to call the police. I've never seen John so pissed mom. He walked over to me and I stood back up and he punched me in the stomach, hard-"

"Oliver why didn't you tell me" Olivia said interrupting him

"Because after he punched me, he told me if I ever told anyone about anything that went on in that apartment he would make sure Callie would never be able to play with me again. And he told me I could become an orphan" Oliver said, making sure to say the last part quietly

Olivia shook her head and tried to hold back the urge to scream and cry at the same time.

"Mom" Oliver said reaching his hand out to touch her arm, "Mom I'm sorry, really"

Instead of saying anything to him she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned into her as she held onto him.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again. Ever" she told him, "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you"

"I know, I'm sorry mom"

She let go of him and pulled him away to look in his eyes, "Promise me"

"I promise"

She nodded as she let him sit back down in his chair,

"Is that all that happened?"

"Yeah but when me and Callie were leaving her apartment I heard John say something about the safe place by the river" he told his mom

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's all I heard" he told her

"Okay. Hey why don't you go get your sweatshirt and jacket and we will head down to the hospital before it get's any later" she told him

Oliver nodded before getting up and heading to his bedroom. As soon as Oliver was out of earshot Elliot sat down in the chair that Oliver had been sitting in and looked at Olivia. He reached his hand out and placed it softly on her knee.

"Liv, you okay?" he asked her

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but she didn't let any of them fall,

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost him Elliot" she told him regaining her composure

He nodded and gave her a half smile, "He's stubborn just like you"

"What?"

"C'mon Liv, do you think you would have just sat by either while your friend was in trouble. I don't think so" he told her

Olivia didn't answer, but instead stood up when she saw Oliver come out of his room.

"Ready?" she asked him

"Yeah"

"Okay well let's go" Elliot said as he and Olivia grabbed their coats and they all headed out of the apartment.

* * *

A/N: Well I was going to make this chapter about something completely different, but once I started writing this is what I ended up with. So the next chapter is going to be what I had originally planned. I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, and please review and let me know what ya'll think. Thanks! 


	9. Reactions Part II

**Chapter 8: Reactions Part II**

Olivia, Elliot, and Oliver arrived at the hospital some twenty minutes later and headed up to Callie's room. When Oliver opened the door to her room Elliot and Olivia both smiled as they watched Callie smile and her face brighten as she reached her arms out to hug her best friend.

"They've got some connection, huh" Elliot said to Olivia

"Yeah" she answered

They let Oliver and Callie talk a few minutes before they walked over to her bed and sat down in the chairs next to her bed.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling" Olivia asked as she sat down

"Okay" she answered

Olivia nodded her head and before she could say anything else, Callie asked the question that Olivia knew was coming.

"Did you find my mom?"

Olivia looked at Elliot and he could tell she wanted to cry, but she didn't. She took a deep breath before turning and facing Callie again, making eye contact with her.

"Sweetie I need to talk to you about your mom" she told the little girl as she got out of her seat and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Honey we did everything we could to find your mom...But...Sweetie she died" Olivia managed to choke out, "I'm so sorry baby" she said reaching out to the little girl, but Callie jerked away from Olivia's touch.

"Nooo. You promised you'd save her...You lied" Callie yelled as she recoiled from Olivia's touch.

"Sweetie-"

"Nooooo" Callie yelled as she pulled her knees into her chest and held them there, as she began to rock herself back and forth.

"Callie" Oliver said scooting closer to her on the bed, "It's gonna be okay Cal, I promise. You trust me, don't you?" he asked looking at her

Callie lifted her head and looked at him, nodding her head.

"I'm so sorry about your mom. But please don't be mad at my mom, she did everything she could and she's gonna make sure no one ever hurts you again" Oliver told the little girl

Callie looked at Oliver and then started crying again, but this time she reached out to Oliver, who scooted even closer to her and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck and cry into his shoulder, while he held onto her.

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other before getting up and stepping out of the room to regain themselves. Olivia knew Callie was going to take the death of her mother hard, but she didn't think that it would make her completely distrust Olivia.

"Olivia, you okay?" Elliot asked after they had stepped into the hallway

"Yeah, why?"

"Liv"

"What?"

"She'll come around, she's just upset right now" Elliot told her

"I know" Olivia said as she sat down in a chair in the hallway

"Okay" Elliot nodded as he sat down beside her, but she knew that tone

"What's that supposed to mean" Olivia questioned as she snapped her head around to look at Elliot

"Nothing"

"Whatever"

"Liv, it doesn't mean anything-"

"Go ahead Elliot. I know you want to ask a personal question" Olivia told him

"I just know you are comparing her childhood to yours-"

"Her mother wasn't a drunk Elliot"

"No but she let an abusive drug dealer and a sex offender into her house with her six year old daughter" Elliot told her

"Okay so I sympathize with the girl. What's wrong with that?" Olivia snapped

"Nothing except your ten year old son also seems to sympathize with her. You know most ten year old boys don't want to have anything to do with little girls, especially younger ones" Elliot countered

"What are you saying Elliot?"

"Nothing, it just seems that he has been in a similiar situation and that's why he is so nice to her. Because other ten year old boys wouldn't want to have anything to do with a six year old neighbor who was a girl." he snapped

"Are you saying that I treat my son the same way my mother treated me" Olivia questioned shocked

"No-"

"Because I thought you knew me better than that Elliot" she said angrily as she stood up and walked back towards Callie's room.

"Olivia, wait-"

"Elliot I don't want to talk to you right now, I am getting my son and we are going home" she said as she opened the door to Callie's room.

When they walked into the room they saw that Callie had finally stopped crying and had fallen asleep on Oliver's shoulder while they watched some cartoons.

"Hey kiddo, you ready to go home?" she asked Oliver quietly

"Do we have to?"

"Yeah, it's getting late. How about we come back tomorrow to see her and you can stay all day if you want to"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean it is Saturday, so I don't see why not" she told him with a smile

"Okay" he said as he carefully got up and covered Callie with a blanket before walking over to his mother

Olivia draped her arm around his shoulders as they left Callie's room and walked down the hall to the elevator, with Elliot running after them.

"Olivia, please, let me explain" he begged

"There's nothing to explain Elliot, I understood you perfectly" said Olivia

"I didn't say that you were the abuser, and I didn't say there was one, I just-"

Elliot didn't get to finish his sentence because the elevator doors closed, and he didn't try to stop them from closing. He knew Olivia was angry with him and he knew she wouldn't listen to anything he had to say right now. So he thought he would give her time to cool off and he would come back to the hospital tomorrow to try and explain things to her.

Elliot decided to stay the night at the hospital, just to keep any eye on Callie, and to be there in the morning when Olivia and Oliver arrived.

The next morning Oliver and Olivia arrived at the hospital around 10 AM. When they walked into Callie's room, Olivia was surprised to find Elliot there watching Saturday morning cartoons with Callie. Olivia was also surprised to see that Callie was laughing at the cartoons and seemed to be in a completely different mood than when she saw her the night before.

"Hi Livia" Callie giggled while still watching the TV

"Hi sweetheart"

Elliot stood up and motioned to Olivia to follow him out into the hallway, which she surprisingly did.

"She seems to be in a better mood this morning" stated Olivia

"Yeah, I mean she was upset this morning when she woke up but once she started watching the cartoons she seemed to get better" Elliot told her

"What are you doing here?"

"I stayed here last night, you know, to keep an eye on things" he told her

"Uh-huh, you mean to ambush me when I got here" she asked

"Olivia, please let me just explain what I meant" he begged

"Elliot, I don't want to argue with you anymore. I'm tired and I just came here to drop Oliver off before going back to the precinct to keep looking for these guys" she told him

"I don't want to argue with you either Liv"

"Oh really, cause that's not what it seems like"

"Liv I just want you to tell me what's going on" he told her sincerely

She looked in his eyes and she knew he was seriously concerned about what was going on with her and why this case had taken such a toll on her.

"Elliot-"

"Please Liv, help me understand. Help me understand why you didn't tell me about Oliver. Why you thought you couldn't trust me" he begged her

"It wasn't about trust Elliot" she whispered

"Then what was it about?" he asked looking at her

"Do you want to go get some coffee before we head into work?" she asked

"Liv?"

"Let's get some coffee" she told him

And it was with her tone of voice that he knew she was ready to talk to him, but she didn't want to tell him in a public place. So he nodded and watched her walk back to Callie's room, open the door and tell Oliver she loved him and that she would be back to pick him up after work. Then they walked to the elevator together, got in and rode down to the ground floor. Once they got off Elliot ushered her to his car.

"C'mon I'll drive and I'll bring you back to here after work"

She gave in and they got into his car and drove back to her apartment. He followed her up to her floor and watched as her hands shook slightly as she took the keys out to unlock her door. They went inside and she started a pot of coffee as he sat down on the couch. A few minutes later she joined him on the couch with two cups of coffee and handed him one cup.

"You know when I joined SVU, nobody knew anything about me except my previous Captain. He made sure certain things weren't in my file when I left" Olivia said out loud

"Like you having a son?" asked Elliot

Olivia nodded her head, "Yeah"

"Why?"

"When I met Tom he seemed like a nice guy and it didn't hurt that he was cute. I met him when I was twenty seven, married him a year later, and had Oliver when I was twenty nine" she told Elliot as she looked down at the coffee in her mug

"What happened?" he asked looking at her

"Things started to get a little crazy. He was trying to open up his own business and he put a lot of money down on it. I started working more hours and I was gone a lot at night, so he was the one who had to take care of Oliver most of the time. By the time Oliver was two Tom's business started taking a dive, people didn't seem as interested in the stuff he was selling. He was losing customers and in turn we were losing money. When Oliver was three we put him in preschool and that's when Tom confronted me about our financial situation. He put a big bet on a game to try and make some more money to support his business, but he lost the bet. And in turn he lost his business and we lost all of our money. We owed the bank over fifty thousand dollars in loans, and we couldn't pay for Oliver's preschool. All of the money that I was making was going to the bank to pay off the loans. We barely had enough to support ourselves."

Olivia looked at Elliot and she could tell by his expression that he was shocked at everything he was hearing. But he didn't say anything, she knew he just wanted to hear the rest of the story.

"Anyways once his business went under Tom took it really hard. He didn't even look for another job, he just stayed home all day with Oliver. I'd come home in the middle of the night and the apartment would be a mess. That's when he started drinking. I guess he couldn't take the toll of losing his business and all of the money he had invested in it. When I confronted him about his drinking he completely lost it. He told me it was my fault, that maybe if I would have picked a better career we wouldn't be in the situation we were in. He had the nerve to try and order me to quit my job to find a better paying job. I didn't take that well at all and I just started yelling at him, telling him that our financial situation was his fault and that if he wanted us to make more money he should get off his ass and look for another job"

Elliot's eyes got wide and Olivia knew he wasn't surprised by what she had said, that's the way she was, not afraid of anything. Olivia smiled slightly before looking back down at her coffee.

"Well I guess I shouldn't have said anything to him, because I'd never seen him so angry" she said quietly

"Liv, what happened?" Elliot asked softly as he reached his hand out and placed it on her knee

"Well it didn't end well. I mean he had never acted like that before, but I knew I had to get away from him, because he wasn't the same man" she said still looking at her coffee

"Liv, what do you mean it didn't end well? What did he do?"

"Elliot I think you know"

"Did he hurt you?" Elliot asked, his voice still soft, but with a twinge of anger in it, "Liv"

She didn't answer at first, but just nodded her head, her eyes still concentrating on coffee in her hands.

"I never thought he would...I mean I knew he was upset...But..."

"Olivia if you don't want to-"

"No I've told you this much...I'm going to finish" she said looking up at him

He nodded his head and kept his hand on her knee as he looked at her.

"Tom got up out of his chair and walked towards me. I thought he was just going to yell at me for what I had said, but when he got closer I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was more than angry. When I started to turn to walk away he grabbed my arm and threw me onto the couch. When he came towards me again I kicked him and got up to run to Oliver's room but he jumped on me as I got to the hallway. I tried fighting him, but he was so much bigger than me and he had me pinned down...He just started hitting me...And yelling at me...I remember Oliver coming out of his room, and how frightened he was. I told him to stay in his room and not to come out"

"Liv" Elliot said as he scooted closer to her on the couch when he saw a tear roll down her cheek

"Tom got really angry when I told Oliver to hide in his room. He got up off of me and went into Oliver's room and brought him out into the hall. I remember Oliver was crying, he was so scared. I begged Tom not to do anything to him...But...Oliver was screaming for me and Tom was dragging him down the hall to the living room. I got up and followed them to the living room, begging Tom not to hurt him. When he noticed that I had followed him he turned around and hit me hard enough to cause me to fall down. Oliver ran over to me crying...That's when...That's...When Tom hit him. I've never been so pissed off. I got up and attacked Tom, fighting him like I've never fought anyone before. I got the worse end of it, but it was enough to get Tom to finally stop hitting me. I remember he sunk down to the floor crying. I went over to Oliver and picked him up and took him into his room and shut the door, pulling his bed in front of the door in case Tom tried to get in. I just sat on the floor rocking Oliver back and forth. Then the front door opened and closed. I got up and went out into the hall and then I checked out the apartment and found that Tom had left. I didn't know how long he was going to be gone, so I packed some of my things and some of Oliver's things. I got us both cleaned up the best that I could and then we left" Olivia told Elliot as her eyes looked up and met his

"Olivia, I'm so sorry. I wish I would have known you then" Elliot told her as he squeezed her knee

"Well there would have been nothing you could have done. I didn't tell anybody about it. I called into work that night and asked for the next week off, which I got. Then I took Oliver and we went to the hospital so that we could both get stitched up. Then I took him to the beach for the next week where we could recuperate."

"Oliver had to get stitches?"

"Yeah he fell and hit his head on the coffee table when Tom hit him"

"So you never told anyone about what happened?" Elliot asked

"Well when we got back from the beach I got a one bedroom apartment that was closer to the precinct I was working at. Things were good for awhile, I was able to get Oliver back into a different preschool and I got my hours worked out so that I could be home by seven at night. It had been about a month and we hadn't heard anything from Tom so I figured he was ashamed of what he had done. But then one night on my way home, he was waiting for me outside my apartment building. He told me that he was sorry about what happened and that he wanted to start over. I told him that Oliver and I had moved on and that he needed to stay away from us or I would tell everyone I worked with what had happened. He pinned me up against the wall and whispered in my ear that if I wasn't careful I would end up without a son. I told him if he ever came near Oliver again I would kill him"

"He did come near him, didn't he?" Elliot asked her

Olivia nodded, "I got off of work early one day so I thought I would surprise him by picking him up from school and spending the afternoon at the park with him. But when I got to the school, he wasn't there. When I questioned his teacher she told me that his father had signed him out at lunch time, he had told her he was taking Oliver to a Doctor's appointment. I was so angry with her, with the entire school. I went back to my apartment hoping that they would be there, but they weren't. There was no sign that they had even been there. So I went back to my precinct and told my Captain about everything. He had people searching, but no one could find anything. There was no trace of Tom or Oliver anywhere"

"Wait, did people you worked with know that you had a son?" Elliot asked

"No, most of them didn't even know I was married. I didn't really talk about my personal life at work. When my Captain found out he told the officers that were searching for Oliver that he was my godson. We searched for weeks without turning up anything. One day my Captain came to me and told me he couldn't keep looking. He told me he wouldn't put anything about my personal life into my file. That's when he told me that I had been transferred to SVU. A couple months later I became your partner" she told him as she looked back up at him

"Liv, why didn't you just tell me?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I mean, do you think I'm proud of what happened. I didn't want people feeling sorry for me"

"So you got Oliver back two years ago?"

"Yeah, he just showed up one day"

"Liv he would have been like eight years old. I doubt he just showed up on his own" he said looking at her

"About four years ago I got a card in the mail on my birthday. When I opened it up there was a picture of Oliver...It had been three years since I had seen him and he had grown so much, but he was okay and that was all that mattered. Inside the card was a note from Tom saying that he wanted Oliver to have a better life than the one he had been living and that's why he had taken him from me. That was the first time I had heard anything from either of them"

"Did you try and trace where the card had come from?"

"Of course. But it was no use he covered his tracks really well. Then about a year later I got another card, but it was from Oliver. He had written that he missed me and that Tom didn't know he had sent this card to me. He begged me to come and find him. I tried tracing that card as well, but I never found anything. Then two years ago I got another card from Oliver, this time with their address on the envelope. That's the time I took that whole weekend off and told everyone that I was going out of town for the weekend. I flew to Florida, which is where the card came from. I found a cop there that gave me directions to Tom's house. I sat outside for awhile and that's when I saw Oliver come out of the house with a woman, and they were followed a couple minutes later by Tom. I watched Tom say goodbye to the woman and then he grabbed Oliver by the arm and yelled something at him. It took everything I had not to get out of the car and shoot the bastard right there. I waited until Tom had gone back inside and then the woman backed her car out of the driveway and I followed her to the mall. I got out and followed her and Oliver into the mall and I watched the interaction between them. They seemed to get along pretty well, so I just followed behind them waiting for the right time. Then I watched as Oliver asked the woman a question as he pointed to a candy store. She nodded and then pointed to another clothing store in the mall. I watched as he went into the clothing store and she went to the candy store. I knew that was probably going to be my only chance so I ran into the clothing store after him. I saw him looking at some clothes so I walked closer to him and I whispered his name. I didn't know if Tom might have changed it or not. But he turned around and stared at me for a minute, and I thought he didn't recognize me. Then he ran at me and jumped into my arms. I remember I just wanted to stand there holding him, but I knew the woman that was with him would be back soon. So I told him that we had to leave right then. Oliver nodded his head as he looked across the mall and saw the woman still in the line at the candy store. I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. I remember I told him that he was going to have to meet me outside the store so that no one would see us leave together. So I left him in the store and walked out keeping my eyes on the woman at the candy store. Then a minute later I felt someone slip their hand into mine. I remember looking down and seeing Oliver smile up at me and I just wanted to hold him in my arms and not let him go. That's when we left the mall, and got into my rental car and went straight to the airport. I had already picked up two plane tickets for that afternoon, hoping that I would be able to get Oliver and get to the airport before the flight left, which thankfully I was"

Olivia looked at Elliot who had an almost stunned look on his face.

"So you kidnapped him back from your husband?" he asked her

"Ex-husband, and he is my son also" she told him

"And he hasn't come looking for you?"

"No, I mean I'm not sure he knows that it was me who took him. He might have thought it was an actual kidnapper"

"Why would he think that?" Elliot asked

"Because Tom didn't know that Oliver sent me that letter with their address on it. He told me that his stepmother had helped him mail it one day. That was the woman he was with at the mall. She had figured out what had happened and she wanted to help Oliver get back to where he belonged"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Oliver said she was really nice and took good care of him"

"What about Tom?"

"What about him?"

"Did he ever hurt Oliver again?" Elliot asked

"Yes" Olivia answered quietly, "That's why Tamara wanted to get him back home to me. She was afraid Tom was going to end up killing him"

"How do you know that if you've never met her"

"Oliver told me. Our flight stopped in Virginia and we spent the night at a hotel there and took another flight to New York the next day. That night we stayed up talking for a long time. He told me everything that had happened, including the way Tom had treated him. He cried in arms for so long Elliot. It took everything in my power not to fly back to Florida and kill Tom. I remember holding Oliver and rocking him in my arms till he fell asleep. He told me that he remembered everything that had happened before he and Tom left New York"

"What about the day Tom picked him up from school?" asked Elliot

"Oliver told me that Tom had told him I had said it was okay to pick Oliver up and have lunch with him. Oliver didn't realize anything was wrong until they ended up at the airport" Olivia told Elliot

"Don't you ever worry that one day Tom will figure out what really happened?"

"I try not to worry about it anymore. And if Tom ever does come back I'll be ready, because I'm not giving Oliver up without a fight." she told Elliot

Elliot moved his hand from Olivia's knee to her hand and took it in his, giving it a slight squeeze.

"Thank you" he said

"For what?" she asked

"For trusting me enough to tell me the truth" he told her, "I just wish you could have told me sooner so that I could have helped you in any way possible"

"I didn't want you to get involved"

"Why?" he asked

"Because it was a dangerous situation and you had a family of your own to worry about. I didn't want all of you to be in danger as well"

"Yeah well I guess we don't have to worry about that anymore, do we" he said

"Elliot, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"It's okay Liv, you know me well enough to know that I would have done anything I could to help you"

She nodded before looking down at their hands, that were now intertwined with each other.

"I just want you to know, that I am here for you now Liv. So anything that you need-"

"Elliot-"

"I know you can take care of yourself. Believe me" he smiled, "I just mean if you ever need anything, I'm here, okay" he told her still smiling

She smiled as she nodded her head, before she pulled her hand out of his and stood up, taking his coffee cup from him and walking over to the kitchen sink. He got up and followed her into the kitchen, and was standing right behind her when she turned around. She jumped, not expecting him to be standing so close to her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you" he said

"It's okay" she said, stepping around him

"Are you sure you're okay Olivia? Because-"

"I'm fine. But we should be getting to work, the sooner we find those bastard's the better" she said heading for her front door

"Okay" he said following her

As she reached for the doorhandle, his hand reached out, covering her own, "Your secret's safe with me Liv"

She nodded but didn't say anything. She just opened the door so they could both get into work. Once they made it to his car Olivia's cell phone started ringing.

"Benson" she answered it, "What? Okay we're on our way" she said as she hung up

She turned to Elliot with a look of pure fright on her face.

"Liv, what is it?"

"Someone kidnapped Callie"

"What? But there was a guard"

"He's unconscious. He was given some type of relaxant" she told Elliot

Elliot sped to the hospital. As soon as he and Olivia made it to the hospital they ran inside and took the elevator up to Callie's floor. As soon as they got out they were met by a flood of police officers. They spotted Munch and Fin talking to one of the Doctors, so they headed over to them.

"What happened?" Elliot asked as they walked up to them

"Most people were on their lunch break so there were only a couple of people on the floor. One of the nurses said she saw a man walking around in a lab coat, but she had never seen him before. When she came out of the room she was in, the officer was on the ground and the little girl was gone from the room" Munch told Elliot and Olivia

"What about the boy?" asked Olivia

"What boy?" questioned Munch

"There was a boy in Callie's room with her" Olivia said impatiently as she turned running towards Callie's room

Elliot turned to go after her, but Munch stopped him, "What is she talking about?"

"We left a ten year old boy here with Callie this morning" Elliot told him as he continued after Olivia

When Elliot got to Callie's room, CSU was still dusting the room for prints or any sign of who might have taken Callie. Then Elliot saw Olivia standing by Callie's bed and he noticed she was holding the stuffed dog that Oliver had given to Callie. He walked up to Olivia and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him, her eyes full of tears.

"I can't lose him again Elliot. I can't" she said

"I know" he told her as he began to rub her back

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A/N: Well please let me know what ya'll think about this chapter. I've already started the next one so hopefully it won't take me as long as the last two chapters did. Pleasssse Review! 


	10. A Day of Hell

**Chapter 9: A Day of Hell**

Olivia and Elliot were still standing in Callie's hospital room when Munch and Fin came in. Olivia saw them and immediately pulled away from Elliot, while wiping away any stray tears that were showing.

"Guys what's going on?" Fin asked his two colleagues

"No one saw anybody leave with two kids?" Elliot asked, ignoring Fin's question

"No, at least no one saw anything suspicious. But there are camera's in certain areas of the hospital, including all of the exits. We're just working to get the tapes" Fin told them

"Well work faster. And get an APB out that there are two kids missing. Not just one." Olivia snapped at Fin

"Olivia, who was the kid?" Munch asked her

"He was the witness that saw everything" she told him

"What was he doing here?" Munch asked

"Visiting his friend. That's not a crime is it?" she snapped

"Liv-" Elliot began

"No. Elliot they're missing. Both of them, I'm not going to sit by and explain myself to these two when we should be out looking for them, before something terrible happens. Now lets get pictures and descriptions of the kids out on the streets. And lets get those tapes so we can find out who took them" she practically yelled at all three of her colleagues before turning and walking out of the hospital room

"Geeze, what is with her?" stated Munch

"Yeah it's not like we're the ones who brought the boy here in the first place" Fin added

"Shut up" Elliot snapped, "You have no idea why she is so upset. But when you two find out you're going to feel like jerks"

"Then why don't you tell us" said Munch

"Because it's not my place. But you'll find out soon enough. Believe me" Elliot told them before turning and walking out of the hospital room

He found Olivia sitting in one of the waiting chairs in the hallway, her elbows resting on her knees and her head buried in her hands. Elliot walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Liv we're going to find them. I promise" he told her

"It's going to be all over the news Elliot"

"I know, but it will probably be our best bet at finding them" he told her

"What if this story makes national television?" she asked, turning to look at him

"Then we'll have an even better chance at finding them if they left the state of New York"

"And an even better chance of Tom seeing the news and finding us. Somehow I can see him declaring to the courts that I'm an unfit mother and gaining custody of Oliver" she told Elliot, still looking at him

"Liv, let's just focus on getting the kids back. And if you have any problems with Tom, you just let me know, because I promise that I will not let him take Oliver from you again"

Olivia just nodded as Munch and Fin came out of the hospital room and walked towards them.

"We are putting out an APB on the kids, but we need a description of the boy" Munch said

Olivia nodded before describing Oliver the best she could.

"He's ten years old, about 4'2 with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. He also has a scar above his left eye, and he was wearing blue jeans, a blue hooded sweatshirt, a blue beanie, and black skater shoes" she told him

Munch and Fin both looked at Olivia, before Fin spoke up,

"You sure seem like you know this kid pretty well. Is there something you aren't telling us?" he asked

Elliot and Olivia both looked at each other before Olivia turned her attention back to Munch and Fin.

"You need his name, don't you?" she asked Fin

"Yeah that would help" he answered

"His name is Oliver...Oliver Benson. And you make sure that those people know that they kidnapped a cop's kid" she told them before turning and walking down the hall to find out if anyone had gotten hold of the security tape yet.

Munch and Fin just stared at each other before turning to look at Elliot.

"She's not joking. And I would suggest you get that information out on the radio and television as fast as you can or these bad guys won't be the only people running for their lives" he told them before turning and following Olivia down the hall.

Elliot found Olivia talking to one of the security officers and he could tell she was beginning to get more and more short tempered with people. He didn't blame her, I mean her son was missing after all. It was just usually him that was short tempered with people and she was usually the one having to calm him down. He walked up to her and the security officer and could hear the anger in her voice after he had told her that he had given the tape to another officer already. He could sense that things were only going to get worse so he jogged up to the two of them.

"Liv, hey, everything okay?" he asked

She just turned and glared at him, like that was the most stupid question he had ever asked in his entire life.

"Okay then, what's the problem officer?" Elliot asked turning to the security officer

"I already gave the security tape to one of the officers, but this lady just keeps yelling at me"

"Okay thank you officer, you can go" Elliot told him

"Yeah whatever" he answered before turning and walking away

Elliot turned to face Olivia and waited for her to make eye contact with him before saying anything to her. She slowly looked up at him and her brown eyes met blue eyes and she waited for him to scold her for her actions, and was surprised when he didn't.

"Liv, you have to calm down. If you don't you're going to get removed from the case and I know that's the last thing that you want" Elliot told her

"Don't you think Cragen's going to remove me anyways" she said still looking at him

"You don't know that. As long as you act professional and stop yelling at the people who are trying to help you, I think Cragen will let you stay on the case"

"Elliot Cragen's going to find out that the boy is my son. I'm going to get into trouble for not coming clear with him about that to begin with."

"Liv, just tell him the truth. Tell him why you didn't want anybody to know about him. Cragen will understand, he cares about you, you know that" Elliot told her

Olivia nodded her head and then turned to walk back down the hallway towards the elevator.

"Hey, where are you going?" Elliot yelled after her

"To get that security tape to see if we can ID the men who took the kids" she yelled back as she reached the elevator and pressed the down button

He smiled before jogging down the hallway and stepping into the elevator with her as the doors opened.

They found the police officer who had the security tape, so they took the tape and went back to the precinct to watch the tape, to find the man who had taken the kids.

When they got to the precinct they had just walked over to their desks and dropped off their jackets, when the Captain's office door swung open and he yelled across the room.

"Detective Benson. My office. NOW."

Olivia looked at Elliot before taking a deep breath and walked over to Cragen's office. As soon as she entered the office, he slammed the door shut, causing her to jump.

"Is there something that you want to tell me?" he asked angrily

"Well, sir, I...it's just-"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" he asked still angry, "This whole time, the kid who saw these men take Anna Blake was your son"

"Yes sir" she answered quietly

"Why?"

"I'm sorry?" she questioned

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" he asked

"It's a long story Captain. I just...I didn't want anyone to find out" Olivia told him as she sat down in the chair that was in front of Cragen's desk.

"What's his name?"

"Oliver"

"And he's ten years old?"

"Yes sir"

"Why isn't he in your file?" Cragen asked her

"My other Captain told me he wouldn't put it in my file"

"Why not"

"Long story short. The guy I thought was great turned out to be a jerk" Olivia told her Captain

"Olivia I don't want the short story. I want you to sit there and tell me everything from the day your son was born to today at the hospital" he told her

"Okay" she nodded as she began to rehash the story to her Captain in the same form in which she had told Elliot earlier that day.

Some forty five minutes later Olivia emerged from Captain Cragen's office and headed over to her desk. Elliot was waiting for her at his own desk and gave her a half smile as she sat down.

"So how'd it go?" he asked her

"Better than I thought" she answered, "Did you watch the tape?"

Elliot nodded, "Yep and guess which one of the perps was caught on camera?"

"Which one?"

"John Master's"

"The boyfriend" Olivia stated as her eyebrows shot up, "Has anybody else found anything that could lead us to them?"

"No, but John and Fin are at the hospital interviewing everyone that was there at the time of the kidnaping to see if anybody saw the car or license that they got into"

Olivia nodded and right before she was about to say something, Cragen came out of his office and headed to her and Elliot's desks.

"Do you have a picture of Oliver that we can put on the news. John found one of Callie and we are going to start airing their pictures so that maybe we can involve the general public"

Olivia nodded before pulling her purse out of her desk drawer, pulling out her billfold and finding the most recent picture of Oliver.

"Here" she said handing the picture to Cragen, "That's his most recent school picture. His hair is a little longer now, but that should work, unless you want me to go home and get an even more recent picture. I have one at my apartment that I took last week if-"

"Olivia" Cragen said reaching his hand out to her shoulder, "This picture will work fine. We're going to find him, I promise"

Olivia nodded as her Captain looked at the picture and then looked back at her.

"What?" she asked

"He looks just like you" Cragen stated

Olivia smiled, "Yeah we get that a lot"

"I'm going to get these pictures out to the media ASAP" he said before turning and walking back to his office

Only some two minutes later Elliot's phone rang. Olivia listened intently as she watched Elliot nod and answer some questions before asking for an address. Once he hung up he looked at Olivia and jumped up out of his seat.

"Let's go" he said

"Where?" she asked getting up

"That was John, he found someone who remembered the plates of the car that Master's was driving. He sent it in and got an address right away. John and Fin are on the way, so lets meet them there" he said as they both grabbed their jackets and headed out of the precinct

The address they were given was about twenty minutes from their precinct and they sped the entire way there. Once they got there they saw that John and Fin were just arriving themselves along with some back up. They all drew their guns as they walked up the front porch and knocked on the door. When there was no answer Elliot announced that it was the police. There was still no answer so he kicked the door down and they all entered the house, spreading out to different areas. Olivia and Elliot went upstairs while Fin and John searched the downstairs. Elliot and Olivia found nothing upstairs, but Fin and John found what they thought was a sign that someone had been there recently.

"Elliot, Olivia" John shouted upstairs

Elliot and Olivia came running back downstairs to what looked to be the master bedroom. They found John and Fin standing in the room looking into the closet. Elliot and Olivia walked over to where they were and as soon as Olivia looked in the closet she recognized what they were looking at.

"Oh my God" she said looking at the floor, "They were here"

All three of her colleagues turned to look at her as she walked into the closet and picked up a blue beanie.

"This is Oliver's" she said quietly, fighting back the tears

Elliot immediately made a call to get CSU to come and dust for prints as they looked for any other evidence of the kids being here. Olivia walked out of the closet and sat down on the bed, still gripping Oliver's blue beanie. Elliot walked over and sat down next to her on the bed, as John and Fin turned and left the bedroom.

"Olivia...At least we know that they were here" he told her

"What good is that gonna do. We have no idea where to look next Elliot. And you and I both know that these guys are not driving the same vehicle anymore" she said angrily

"Liv-"

"Elliot don't...Don't tell me everything's going to be okay. Because it's not. We are at a dead end unless someone comes forward with information that we don't have" she said as a few tears slid down her cheek

Elliot moved his hand and covered her own, giving it a slight squeeze as they both looked down at Oliver's beanie that he had been wearing earlier that day, hoping that he left it there as a sign that he and Callie were alright.

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A/N: Well hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I know it's a little shorter than most of the other ones, but I wanted to get this one up this week, so I just ended it a little sooner than I had planned. But the rest of the chapters will probably be the same length as the other ones. Please Review and let me know what you think! 


	11. So Close

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews you guys. Here is the next chapter in this story, hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 10: So Close**

Elliot and Olivia waited for CSU to arrive and assess the scene while Munch and Fin went back to the station to see if they could find any more information that could help lead them to these men. As Olivia and Elliot were waiting for CSU to finish their sweep through the house, they began to look through the kitchen where they found the refrigerator full of food, that looked to be newly bought by looking at the expiration dates on some of the food.

A couple minutes later they were called by CSU to the master bedroom, where one of the officers showed Elliot and Olivia some fingerprints that were on the doorhandle of the closet.

"There was definitely more than just one person in this house recently. There are two sets of prints on this doorhandle and on the doorframe. As far as any other evidence we haven't found any signs of blood anywhere" one CSU detective told them

"Alright, well get those prints to the lab ASAP" Elliot told the detective

The detective nodded before heading out of the room. Then Elliot turned to Olivia and saw her standing inside the closet looking around. He stepped closer to the doorway of the closet before saying,

"Liv what are you doing?"

"Just looking. There's got to be some other evidence in here. If the kids were locked in here Oliver would have tried to find some way of leaving me a clue. But it might be something that I would only be able to understand" she told Elliot as she squatted down and pushed some of the clothes out of the way. As she did, something caught her eye. She leaned closer to the wall and found something written on the wall very lightly in pencil. She strained her eye to try and read the word but it didn't make sense to her.

"Elliot look" she said motioning for him to kneel down next to her

So Elliot squatted down next to her and leaned in to look at what was written on the wall.

"It doesn't look like anything Liv. It's probably been here for awhile. Besides it doesn't make any sense that's not even a word" he told her as he stood back up

"Elliot it means something. That's definitely Oliver's handwriting. R-E-V-I-R. What could that mean" she said out loud as she began to think

"Maybe it's code for something else" Elliot said as he stood behind Olivia

"That's it" she said as she jumped up, nearly knocking Elliot over

"What?" he questioned

"It's the word river spelled backwards" she said as she practically ran out of the closet

"Liv wait" he said running after her

He finally caught up with her as she ran out the front door of the house.

"Liv" he yelled one last time

She stopped and turned around to face him, "They're at the river Elliot"

"Which river Liv?"

Olivia looked at him and knew they had no way of knowing for sure which river they would be at.

"Dammit" she cursed

"Liv"

"I think they are going to be at the Hudson River. I think we should go there and check it out. But we should send some other units to the other rivers" she said

"Olivia there are a lot of rivers, but we aren't in jurisdiction of all of them" he told her

"Elliot this is my son we are talking about. I'm going to the Hudson River to check it out" she said as she walked towards the car

"Wait for me" he said as he ran to the car to meet her, "I'll call Munch and Fin and have them grab some uniforms and check out the other rivers"

As Elliot and Olivia were driving to the Hudson River Elliot looked over at Olivia and asked,

"What makes you think they are going to be at the Hudson River"

"A feeling"

"Great, that makes sense" he said sarcastically

Olivia rolled her eyes as she sped up to try and get to the river as fast as she could.

"There are lots of abandon buildings around the Hudson" she said when they were getting closer

"Olivia there are abandoned buildings around other rivers also"

"Yeah but these are well hidden. There are more than just one abandoned building. They probably know that place like the back of their hand"

"Okay but still, why the Hudson?" Elliot asked her again

"At the hospital Callie said something about not wanting to go to Hudson's. I think she meant the Hudson River. But I think that she thought it was another person, someone who might hurt her"

"When did she say that?"

"The night she told me about the group home. She told me that her mother told her that if she didn't behave she would take her to Hudson's"

"And you think she meant the river?"

"I guess we're going to find out" Olivia said as they continued their drive

Once they had finally gotten to the Hudson River they parked the car and got out, walking very cautiously towards the nearest abandoned building. Once they got outside the first warehouse they opened the door, as quietly as they could. Elliot went in first, followed by Olivia.They made their way around some old wooden crates when they heard a noise that seemed to come from above them. They both looked out and saw a man running down the walkway above them.

"Freeze, police" Olivia yelled, but the man continued to run

Elliot then shot at him but the man kept running. Elliot and Olivia started running after him, even though they were on a completely different level. As they rounded a corner of wooden boxes they were met with more gunfire. This time coming from their level. Elliot immediately knocked Olivia to the ground with him behind a couple of other wooden crates. They began a war of gunfire but Olivia and Elliot both knew that they were outnumbered and that they should have called for backup before entering the warehouse. They didn't have any extra bullets and there were only the two of them. Whereas there were at least four or five men shooting at them and they probably had plenty of ammunition.

"Liv we have to get out of here" Elliot told her

"Not without Oliver" she told him before they both sat up and fired another round at the men

"He might not even be here" Elliot told her

"He has to be"

Elliot thought the same thing, so he carefully looked around the corner of the crate and he saw John Master's near a doorway with both Callie and Oliver.

"He's got them Liv" Elliot said as he turned back to his partner

"What?"

"John Master's has got Oliver and Callie next to the exit door"

"Are they okay?"

"It looks like it. Their hands are tied up with rope and Master's has got a gun pointed at them"

"We have to get to them"

Elliot just nodded as he and Olivia decided to try and make a run for it in the direction that they had come from. Olivia made the run first, with Elliot covering her. But just before she made it safely behind a box of crates she felt something burn her arm and she heard Elliot yell.

Elliot saw Olivia get hit when he had turned to look at her. It took everything in him not to run over to her, but she seemed okay. Then he turned his attention back to the men he was shooting at and he saw them exiting the building and he noticed that Master's and the kids had disappeared. Elliot took the chance and ran over to Olivia.

"Liv, you okay?" he asked as he knelt down next to where she was now sitting

"Yeah" she said holding her arm

"Let me see" he told her as he reached for her arm

"The kids Elliot. We have to get them. I'm fine" she said as she started to get up

Elliot took hold of her and helped her up. But right before they were about to round the corner two grenades came rolling towards them. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other with wide eyes before turning and running as fast as they could to the door that they had come in through. Just as they got outside the building, it blew up, throwing Elliot and Olivia through the air. When they hit the ground Elliot immediately rolled on top of Olivia as debris came flying through the air.

Once Elliot was sure that the debris had stopped flying around he rolled off of Olivia.

"Liv" he said as he rolled her onto her back

"Ow" she said out loud

"You okay Olivia?" he asked as he knelt beside her

She nodded while she was still laying on her back before she opened her eyes to find Elliot looking down at her.

"The kids" she yelled as she sat up

"Olivia they're gone. They already got out of here" he told her

"But they were right there" she said to him

"I know"

They sat there for a few minutes before Elliot looked at Olivia and saw the small cuts on her face and hands from the flying glass.

"Let me see your arm" he told her

"It's fine Elliot. It just nicked me"

Just as he was about to look at her arm they heard sirens. They both turned around to see police cars and an ambulance drive up. They saw Munch and Fin jump out of their car and come running towards them.

"You guys okay?" asked Fin

"Yeah, nothing like getting thrown through the air or being in a war of gunfire with no extra ammo" Elliot said

"Olivia you're bleeding" Munch commented when he saw her arm

"It's nothing really" she said

"We need a paramedic over here" Fin yelled towards the ambulance

A paramedic came running over to them and began tending to Olivia. Once he was finished wrapping her arm he told the others that she was going to need to go to the hospital and get some stitches.

"I have to get back to the precinct and get some answers about the case we are working on" she told the paramedic

"Olivia you are going to the hospital" Elliot told her

"Elliot"

"No buts. I'll follow you in the sedan, okay" he told her

Munch and Fin stayed at the scene to see if there was any evidence they could gather that would help them find out where these guys were heading next.

Unfortunately the only evidence left was tire marks from a large vehicle. So CSU took the molds of the tires and sent them to the lab to find out what kind of tires they were to try and match them to a vehicle.

Meanwhile Elliot waited outside the exam room where Olivia was getting stitched up. He knew this case was getting more dangerous the closer they got. And he knew Olivia would do whatever it took to get her son back. And he knew he would do anything for her, no matter what it took. He vowed that he was going to get both of those kids back safely and make sure that nothing happened to Olivia in the process.

A few minutes later Olivia came out of the exam room with her arm stitched up and the Doctor following her.

"Detective Benson you should probably pick up the pain medicine that I prescribed for you"

"I'll be fine without it. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't handle pain" she said slightly annoyed as she kept walking towards Elliot

"Don't worry Doctor she'll be fine" Elliot said, holding back a smile

"Come back in a week to get those stitches out"

"Yeah yeah, thanks" she said waving her hand as she walked towards the exit, with Elliot in tow.

Elliot and Olivia made it back to the precinct only to find Munch and Fin already there.

"Guys what'd you find?" Elliot asked as he and Olivia walked over to their desks

"We're waiting on the lab results to tell us what kind of tires were at the scene and to see if they match a particular car" said Munch

"Hey guys. Are you two alright?" Cragen asked Elliot and Olivia as he came out of his office

"Yeah fine. We just need to find these guys" stated Olivia

"I know that. But please try finding them without getting yourselves killed, okay"Cragen told them

Before Olivia could respond Elliot's phone rang and it was the lab with the results of the tire marks.

"That was the lab. The tires match the type of tire for all 2005 Chevy Suburban's" Elliot told everyone

"That's what the men were driving" stated Olivia

"Yeah but we can't put an APB out on all 2005 Chevy Suburban's" said Fin

Olivia looked from Elliot to their Captain begging for their help with this.

"The hell we can't" Cragen said as he turned to walk back into his office, "I'm putting an APB out on all black 2005 Chevy Suburban's"

Olivia turned back to Elliot and gave him a half smile, while Elliot just smiled and shook his head at the effect Olivia had on everyone in the precinct, especially their Captain.

While the APB was being put out over the entire New York State area, Elliot and Olivia did more digging. Calling people who might have some connection to any of the men involved, but they kept coming up with dead ends.

Meanwhile Fin and Munch were going through all four of the men's past records and any information they could get on them. That's when Munch found that John Master's mother was still alive, but in a nursing home.

"Guys I think we may be able to locate John Master's" Munch said aloud

"How" Olivia asked as she got up from her chair and walked over to Munch's desk

"His mother is in a nursing home in Queens" John told them as he handed the file to Olivia who began to scan the page about his mother

"She was placed in the nursing home two years ago" Olivia said out loud

"Let's go ask her some questions" said Elliot as he grabbed both of their coats

They made it to the nursing home just before visiting hours were over. But when they got to Margaret Master's room she was hooked up to a bunch of machines.

Elliot went back out into the hall and called a nurse over.

"What's wrong with this woman?" he asked

"She's had trouble breathing ever since she had a stroke last year. We keep her monitored to make sure she's stable at all times"

"Can we ask her some questions?"

"I don't think so Detective. She hasn't spoken a word since her stroke" the nurse told him

"Does she ever have any visitors?" Elliot asked her

"I don't know. I'm knew here, just started last month" she said with a smile

"Is there someone here I could talk to about that"

"Most people are gone for the day. Now it's just the night shift and since there aren't visitors allowed after nine I doubt anybody could tell you. You would need to talk to someone on the day shift" she told him

"Well could you give my card to the head nurse tomorrow and have her call me as soon as she can. It's very important. It involves the lives of two small children" he told her as he handed her the card

She took it and walked away, while Elliot turned back around to see Olivia still standing in the doorway of the older woman's room.

"C'mon Liv, one of the nurses is supposed to call in the morning. Let's go home and get some sleep" he said as he walked up behind her

"Liv" he said as he placed his left hand on her left shoulder

She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall for her son and Callie.

"We were so close Elliot" she whispered, "What if we don't-"

"We're going to find them. I promise" he told her as he squeezed her shoulder slightly, "Comeon lets go"

She followed him out to the Sedan and got in leaning her head up against the passenger window. Elliot looked at her and felt so helpless. He didn't know what to do to make her feel better.

"I'm going to take you home, okay" he said as he started to drive away from the nursing home

"No. I want to go back to the precinct" she said as she turned to look at him

"Olivia there's nothing more we can do tonight"

"Elliot take me to the precinct" she said sternly

Elliot paused for a minute before giving in, "Fine"

They got back to the precinct around 10:30 PM to find Munch and Fin had gone to check on black suburban that had been abandoned.

"You two should go home and get some rest. There's nothing more we can do tonight" Cragen told them

Elliot nodded while Olivia just sat at her desk. About twenty minutes later Munch and Fin got back to the precinct.

"It was a false alarm. The guy who owned the suburban was just out of town on vacation this week" Fin said as they sat down at their desks

"You two should go home and get some rest" Cragen told the two of them as he came out of his office again when he saw his other two detectives had gotten back.

"Yeah he's right. There's nothing more we can do until morning anyways." Olivia said as she got up and walked out of the room.

"Seriously guys go get some rest" Elliot told him as he turned to follow Olivia, guessing that she was heading up to the roof

He got up to the roof only a couple of minutes after she did, and he spotted her looking out over the city. So he walked up beside her and looked around at the city with her. They stood there for awhile in silence each knowing that the other was there for them no matter what. Sometime later Olivia, still looking out at the city lights, broke the silence.

"You should go home and get some rest"

"Only if you are" he replied

She turned to look at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. He did something he rarely did for anyone, except maybe his kids, and which he never did with Olivia. He turned and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He noticed Olivia shiver a little before she gave in and wrapped her arms around his back.

"I'm always here for you Olivia" he said, just loud enough for her to hear him

"I know" she whispered back as she buried her face in his chest

"I promise you we will find them"

She just nodded her head, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"But promise me that you won't do anything stupid Liv. Because I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you" he told her

She froze when he said that. She didn't know what he meant by that. She knew she shouldn't read into it much, he probably just meant because they were friends. But that's not the way she thought of it when he said it.

"Elliot" she said as she leaned back and tried to push away from him, "I can't do this Elliot. Not now, I don't have the strength" she told him

But he just held onto her tighter as she tried to pull away, "Olivia I just want you to know how I feel about you because I can't do this anymore" he told her as he motioned between the two of them

"Elliot"

"Olivia I know I can be a pain in the ass, but that's because I don't want people to know everything that's going on with me. I don't like to let people in...just like you" he told her, "But over this last year there's a lot that I have confessed to you that I would never tell anybody else. Don't you get it"

"Don't do this Elliot" she said trying even harder to push him away and get out of his hold

"Why? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that it just might work out because you feel the same way about me as I feel about you?"

"No I don't"

"Fine. If you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't feel for me more than a friend, then I'll walk away, pretend we never had this conversation" he told her

"Elliot...I-"

"You can't can you" he said

Olivia dropped her eyes to the ground as more tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"I can't Elliot. Especially right now"

"Olivia I care about you so much. More than I ever thought I would. But over the last few years I've started caring more...more than a partner should" he told her quietly

Olivia didn't say anything she just continued to look at the ground.

"Do you think this is easy for me Liv. Confessing my true feelings to you. Because it's not. You know I try and guard my feelings as much as possible. But I can't do that anymore, especially when I know you are going to be putting yourself in dangerous situations in order to get your son back" he told her as he let go of one of her arms and moved his hand to her face. He slowly lifted her chin up so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Elliot I don't want to do this right now-" she began, but she was cut off by Elliot's lips on hers. His lips met hers gently and she gave in, thinking about how long she had waited for this moment to happen.

When he pulled away he looked back into her eyes and he swore that there was a little more life to those eyes since this whole ordeal had begun.

"Are you still going to tell me that you didn't feel anything?" he asked

But before she could answer they heard the door to the roof and they quickly pulled away from each other.

"Hey guys we just got a call about a black suburban running from the cops when they tried to pull them over. The chase is going on right now" Fin told the two of them before turning and going back inside the building.

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before turning and following Fin back inside the building. They ran down the stairs back to their floor, where they grabbed the keys to the sedan and then all four detectives took off to follow the chase.

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A/N: Well there's the next chapter. I am going to be going on vacation pretty soon so I will try and get as many chapters up as I can before I leave. Please review and let me know what you think! It would be greatly appreciated! 


	12. Why is This Happening

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I've been out of state on vacation for the last two weeks and my family banned computers and any electronic devices from the trip. We had to leave all electronic devices at home. Unfortunately all of my brothers survived without their MP3 players and video games, and yes I survived without my computer. So here's my next chapter, hope you enjoy.

**Ch. 11: Why is This Happening**

Elliot and Olivia joined Munch and Fin in the car chase of a 2005 black Chevy Suburban. The Suburban was not stopping for anything or anybody and had already caused three separate wrecks, not to mention almost running over a couple who was walking out of restaurant.

"Elliot we have to get the patrol cars to stop chasing him or someone is going to get killed" Olivia said as she hung on as Elliot sped around another street corner

"Okay, radio that to the officers. Tell them to pull back from their chase" he told her as they ran a red light through an intersection, nearly missing getting sideswiped by an oncoming car oblivious to the chase.

"Jesus Elliot" yelped Olivia as she clung tighter to the handle on the roof of the car, bracing her foot on the dashboard

"Sorry" he said as he swerved out of the way, "Just hang on"

After Olivia had radioed orders to the two patrol cars she and Elliot watched as the two cars slowly backed down from the Suburban. But then to their surprise the Suburban sped up even faster making a sharp turn to cross the bridge and head out of town.

"Dammit" Elliot cursed as the two patrol cars missed the turn. Elliot jerked the wheel hard to the right just making the turn.

Olivia turned around to see Munch and Fin still following behind them in their car, "Munch and Fin are still with us" she told Elliot as she turned back around

"Good, I don't know where these guys think they are going" he said as he sped up over the bridge

Once they crossed the bridge Elliot sped up closer to the Suburban, "Can you see how many people are in the car?" he asked Olivia

She strained her eyes but couldn't make out any figures through the tinted windows, "No the windows are too dark" she told him

"I'm going to-" he began

"Do it" she told him, knowing exactly what he was going to say

Elliot sped up and rear ended the Suburban causing him and Olivia to jerk forward slightly and the Suburban to fish tail before regaining control of the large vehicle.

"Try it again" Olivia told him

"Hang on" he said as he sped up and hit the Suburban from behind again, this time causing the driver of the Suburban to slam on his brakes as he lost control of his vehicle.

"ELLIOT" Olivia screamed when she saw the Suburban slamming on it's brakes

Elliot saw the Suburban and jerked his car to the right as the Suburban spun and flipped into a ditch to their left. Elliot and Olivia braced themselves as their car went off the road and into another ditch crashing into a barb wire fence as Elliot slammed on the brakes.

When Elliot and Olivia had regained themselves Elliot looked over at Olivia.

"Olivia...Liv are you okay?" he asked as his hand reached out to grip her shoulder.

"I think so" she answered, "Besides the seatbelt nearly strangling me"

"Sorry" he said again as he undid his seatbelt, "Can you get out over there?" he asked her when he saw that her side of the car was next to one of the fence posts.

Olivia undid her seatbelt and tried to open her door but to no avail.

"No it's jammed shut" she said turning back to Elliot

Elliot nodded as he opened his door and got out looking over at Fin and Munch who were trying to get the driver of the Suburban out. Then he leaned back in the car to make sure Olivia could get out. She climbed across the seat and got out of the car and just as they were about to go help Munch and Fin, they came running towards Elliot and Olivia.

"Get down, it's gonna blow" Fin yelled at Elliot and Olivia

"What?" said Elliot as he and Olivia ran to the other side of their car to take cover

Munch and Fin joined them as they all ducked down waiting for the explosion.

"But the kids" Olivia yelled as she stood up to run back to the Suburban

"Liv" Elliot yelled as he grabbed her wrist, yanking her back down beside him just as the Suburban blew up.

After the explosion Olivia jumped up and ran around their car and over to the Suburban that was on fire. Elliot ran up behind her, followed by Fin and Munch.

"Olivia the driver was the only person in the car from what we could tell" Munch said to Olivia

"From what you could tell" she said angrily as she turned to look at Munch

"Olivia I don't think the kids were in there. I think if they would have been in there, then everyone else would have been also" Elliot said as he stood beside her

"I didn't even recognize the driver" Fin said to Elliot and Olivia, "He didn't look like any of the four guys that we've been looking for"

"Maybe it wasn't even the right vehicle" Elliot said

"It was the right vehicle" said Olivia as she walked back towards her and Elliot's car

"Maybe they payed somebody to distract us" Munch suggested

"Maybe" Elliot said shrugging his shoulders, "Hey I think you guys are gonna have to give us a lift back to the precinct" he told them before turning and walking towards Olivia, who was leaning against the trunk of their Sedan. Just as he did he heard more sirens and he looked down the street to see three patrol cars speeding towards them.

"You ready to head back to the station. There's nothing more we can do here. They'll get the body shipped to the morgue and maybe Warner can get an ID" Elliot said to Olivia

Olivia was staring at the ground and Elliot wasn't sure if she had heard anything he had just said.

"Liv"

She nodded her head before looking up into his eyes, and that told him everything he needed to know. He knew she was scared. Afraid that they wouldn't find Oliver and Callie in time. Afraid of what was going to happen.

"Comeon" he said motioning for her to follow him to John and Fin's car

She hastily pushed herself away from their Sedan and followed Elliot over to Munch and Fin's car.

"We called a wrecker to haul the Sedan to a shop. You guys ready to go" Fin said as he stood at the car

"Yeah" Elliot answered as he and Olivia walked up to the car

They all piled into the Sedan and headed back to the precinct in silence.

Once they got to the precinct and got up to their floor the Captain met them just as they were all about to sit down at their desks.

"Benson, Stabler, My office, now" he ordered

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other with a confused look as they walked into Cragen's office.

"Are you two insane. You could have been killed in that chase along with some innocent civilians. You two know that police chases are illegal inside the city." Cragen practically yelled at them

"We know Captain that's why we hung back till he got outside the city limits, that's when we jumped on the chance to get him" Elliot told his superior

"Well I think the both of you are too close to this case-"

"You're damn right we are Captain. But please, don't take us off this case, for my son's sake, please. I can't sit around and do nothing while he is missing. And I trust you guys more than anybody else, and I know you will do whatever possible to get my son back. But please let me help" Olivia begged as she fought back tears

Captain Cragen took a deep breath before looking back and forth between his two best detectives, "You promise me that you will do things by the book and won't get killed in the process"

"Promise" Elliot and Olivia said in unison

Cragen then nodded his head, "Okay, you can go" he told them

Olivia turned to leave Elliot behind him, but Cragen stopped Elliot before he got out the door.

"Elliot"

"Yeah Cap"

"You watch out for her. I know she wants her son back, but it's not going to help him if she gets herself killed in the process" he told Elliot with concern

Elliot smiled, "I've always got her back Captain" he said before turning and shutting the door behind him.

When Elliot got back to his desk he noticed Olivia staring at him and he knew what that look meant.

"Okay Liv, before you say anything hear me out-"

"Elliot I know you and Cragen were talking about me" she told him

"Yes but only because he's concerned about you"

"I'm fine"

"Well you won't be if you get yourself killed in the process of looking for Oliver" Elliot stated

"Well if Oliver's already dead then what difference does it make" she said

Elliot paused as he looked at Olivia, then he said, "First of all you and I both know he's not dead, second you and I both know that we are going to do everything in our power to find him and believe me we will find him, and Callie, and lastly I couldn't live with myself if anything ever happened to you, so I better not hear you say anything like that again"

Olivia just looked from Elliot down to her desk at the paperwork in front of her. She began to go through more files as Elliot sat back down at his desk to do the same thing. They needed something, anything to help point them in the right direction to find Callie and Oliver.

About an hour later Munch and Fin came back to the precinct only to give information that the black suburban was registered to a Ted Mason.

"Wait, the Ted Mason?" Olivia questioned

"Yeah the same Ted Mason who clocked Olivia and me and raped Anna Blake seven years ago?" Elliot asked

"The one and only" said Munch

"Well was Warner able to ID the body that was in the suburban?" Olivia asked

"They were still picking up pieces when we left. But Warner said she would call us ASAP as soon as she found anything" Fin answered

"Ugghhh" Olivia let out as she turned and headed up the stairs to the crib

Elliot shrugged his shoulders at Fin and Munch before taking off after Olivia. When he entered the crib he saw her standing next to the window, looking out through the bars.

"Liv" he said quietly as he walked up behind her, "Are you okay?"

Olivia let out a small laugh, one that Elliot recognized as sarcastic laughter.

"Yeah Elliot I'm great. My son and one of his friends are missing and we have no solid leads to find them. Because of me they're still out there with criminals" she said sarcastically before she turned to face her partner

"Olivia it's not your fault. How many times do I have to tell you that" he told her

"I guess until I believe that it's true" she said as she stepped around him and walked over to sit down on one of the beds.

Elliot closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes back up and turning around to look at Olivia. Then he walked over to the bed she was sitting on and he sat down next to her. He looked down and noticed that she had her hands folded on her lap. So he reached his hand over and placed his on top of both of her hands. They both raised their eyes and met one another's gaze and Elliot let out a smile before saying,

"I promise you that none of this is your fault and I promise that we are going to find them and they are going to be okay. But you have to promise me that you'll take care of yourself"

"Elliot I am"

"Really. Cause it's nearly 3 AM and you've been up for the past twenty hours and I haven't seen you take a break at all. You need some rest" he told her

"Well you've been up for the same amount of time" she stated looking at him

"Fair enough. Tell you what, why don't we both lay down, and try and get some rest before Warner calls. That should give us at least a couple of hours." he suggested

Olivia nodded her head as she moved to lay down on the bed that she was sitting on, "Okay" she said as she laid her head on the pillow that was on the bed. Elliot smiled as she closed her eyes, and his smile widened when she said,

"Elliot I know you're still sitting there, go find a bed and lay down"

"Okay" he said as he got up and moved to the bed next to hers. He laid down on his back his head turned towards Olivia before he quickly fell asleep.

Around 5 AM Munch came into the crib and found Elliot and Olivia sound asleep. He shook Elliot awake before saying,

"Hey the results are back from Warner"

"Hmmm...Okay, thanks" Elliot mumbled as he sat up to try and wake himself up.

Munch left the room, leaving Elliot and Olivia and a couple other detectives who had decided to crash there for the night. Elliot walked the two feet to her bed and sat down next to where she was laying. Then he carefully shook her awake.

"Olivia...Liv. Warner just called, she has the results for the dead body" he told her quietly

"Hmmm...Okay" Olivia said in a mumble which caused Elliot just to smile

Then Olivia opened her eyes to find her brown ones staring right up into Elliot's blue ones.

"Well good morning sunshine" he joked

Olivia just rolled her eyes and let a half smile slip at his sarcasm before rolling off of the bed and heading out of the crib and down the stairs, with Elliot following.

Elliot grabbed two cups of coffee while Olivia let Cragen know where they were heading. Then he and Olivia headed down to Warner's to find out the results.

Once they got there Warner handed Elliot the file with the results and Olivia read them over his shoulder.

"The body wasn't Ted Mason" she said out loud

Warner shook her head, "Nope his name was William McKinney. I did find a bullet fragment attached to his right upper arm. It matched a police issued gun, and must have been pretty recent"

"Maybe it's the guy from the warehouse that we didn't recognize" Elliot suggested

Olivia nodded, "Did you get a picture to come up?" she asked

Warner nodded, "Yeah, here" she said pulling up his picture on the computer.

"That's the guy you shot at the warehouse" Olivia said to Elliot who nodded, "Do we have a current address?" she asked her partner

Elliot flipped the file back open and found that his address was listed in New York. He turned to Olivia to see if she wanted to check it out, but she read his mind without him having to ask her anything.

"Let's go" she said as she thanked Warner before walking out the door with Elliot close behind with the file in hand.

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A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I'll try and get the next chapter up early next week. But until then please review this chapter. 


	13. Caught in the Act

1A/N: Okay here we go, the next chapter. We are getting down to the wire here people so please remember to review once you finish reading, it helps me to write the next chapter much faster.

**Chapter 12: Caught in the Act**

Olivia and Elliot made it to William McKinney's house in no time. They had called Munch and Fin and told them to meet them at that address and to bring some uniformed officers for backup. But once they had arrived at the house Elliot and Olivia both didn't feel like waiting, they just wanted to know if Oliver and Callie were inside. So they both drew their weapons and walked up the front porch, but right as they stepped up to the front door gunshots began ringing out and Olivia knocked Elliot off the porch and to the ground as fast as she could.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot" Elliot said to her as the crouched below the porch

"Yeah, let's just hope that the kids are here also though" replied Olivia

Elliot nodded before pointing in the direction of the fence. Olivia knew he meant for them to go around to the back of the house to try and get in that way. So she nodded and followed Elliot carefully around the corner of the house. They made their way to the back door and Elliot peeked through the glass on the door to make sure there wasn't anybody guarding it. He nodded to Olivia meaning that it was clear, then he turned the doorknob carefully and found it unlocked. Olivia went through the door first, followed by Elliot. They went down a short hallway before they could see the kitchen and living room area. They could also see two men who were shooting through the front window out into the street where Munch and Fin had finally arrived, even though they had to stop a couple houses down because of the shooting. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other trying to decide if they should go ahead and take these two guys down. They were both worried that there might be more people upstairs, but it was hard for them to tell through all of the noise of gunfire.

Then the two men stopped firing almost simultaneously so that they could reload on ammo. That's when Olivia and Elliot both heard the scream from upstairs. It was the scream of little girl which Elliot and Olivia both recognized to be Callie's and that's when they decided to go for it while the odds were with them. They both ran out from the hallway and into the living room and got to the two men before they could do any real damage. Although one of the men tried to pull his weapon on Elliot, but Elliot shot him before he had the chance. Then Elliot knocked both men unconscious before they had a real chance to warn whoever was upstairs. When Elliot handcuffed both men, he recognized them as .

Then shooting started upstairs and bullets started ripping through the ceiling at Olivia and Elliot, causing them to run the opposite direction of the stairs. Then as quickly as it started, it stopped. And that's when they heard Oliver yell for help. Elliot tried to stop her but Olivia was too quick for him. As soon as she had heard his voice she had taken off across the room and rounded the corner of the staircase before taking the steps two at a time. Elliot took off after her but he was afraid he was going to be too late.

By the time Elliot made it up the stairs there was more gunfire, but this time it was coming from one of the upstairs bedrooms. Once he got to the top of the staircase he rounded the corner very cautiously before seeing Olivia pointing her gun at two men. One of the men Elliot recognized as Thomas Staton, the child molester, and he was holding tightly to Callie who looked scared to death. While the other man was John Masters and he had hold of Oliver. Elliot looked around for a third man before spotting him on the floor with a gunshot wound to his left shoulder. He recognized that man as Andrew McKay.

"Look Masters, just let Oliver and Callie go and we can talk about this" Olivia said, trying to entice them to the let the children go

"I don't think so Detective Benson. We aren't that stupid" John Masters answered her as he tightened his grip around Oliver's neck

"Please, just let them go and I'll do whatever you want" she told them

Masters looked over at Thomas Staton before turning back to Olivia, "How do we know you aren't trying to trick us"

"Look I swear to you. As long as you let the kids go I will stay here with you and you can use me as a hostage. They'll do more for you if you're holding a cop than they would for a couple of kids" Olivia told them

Elliot cursed under his breath as he watched and listened to the conversation that was going on in the bedroom. 'What the hell was she thinking' he thought to himself. Although he knew that if it were his kids in that position he would do the exact same thing.

Elliot watched as Masters pondered the thought and then shook his head, "Tell you what. You get to pick which kid goes, but one of them is staying" he told Olivia

Olivia locked eyes with her son and she could tell that he wanted Callie to get out of there. And as much as Olivia wanted it to be Oliver, she knew that Callie needed to get out of that situation as soon as she could.

"Look Masters I swear it's not a trick, just let both of them go" Olivia begged again

"No way. But have it your way I'll pick who stays and who goes" he told her as he loosened his grip on Oliver before shoving him out in front of him and aiming his gun at Oliver

"Noo" Olivia screamed when she saw the gun pointed at her son

"Get out of here kid, you've been nothing but trouble" Masters said to Oliver

Oliver looked at his mom and she nodded for him to leave the room, so slowly he turned and walked towards the bedroom door. He stopped one more time and turned around to look at his mom.

"Get out of here Oliver. NOW" Olivia practically yelled at him

So he turned and left the room and when he got to the staircase he felt someone grab him and he immediately started to kick.

"Oliver, shhh, it's Elliot, calm down" Elliot whispered in his ear as he loosened his hold on the boy

Oliver turned around and looked up at Elliot before throwing his arms around Elliot's waist, "Elliot they've got my mom"

"I know" Elliot told him softly as he hugged the boy, "Listen to me. I want you to go out the front door with your hands in the air and one of the people I work with will come get you"

"But my mom-"

"I'm gonna get her and Callie, okay. Trust me"

"But-"

"Oliver you're mom will kill me if she finds out I let you stay in this house. Now do what I say and I promise everything will turn out okay" Elliot told the boy

Oliver looked up at Elliot and knew he was telling the truth, "Okay"

Elliot nodded as he turned and watched Oliver descend the stairs and open the front door. Then he turned his attention back to the bedroom, where he watched Masters approach Olivia and take her gun away from her.

"Did you really think I was gonna let you go?" Masters smiled at Olivia, "There's no way you will be getting out of this alive"

"We'll see about that" she stated

"Are you the only one who came into the house?" Masters asked her

"Yes"

"You better not be lying to me" he told her as he walked over to the window and looked out into the mass amount of police cars that had gathered

Elliot was still watching the whole thing, trying to decide what the best thing to do would be. He didn't know if he should barge in there or if he should just camp out and wait until one of the men decided to leave the room. He finally decided he should just camp out and wait.

Meanwhile Elliot had no idea that Oliver had not actually gone out the front door. He had actually stayed in the house and had gone out the back door. He was in the backyard going through the shed that was up against the house, looking for something to distract the men with. But he didn't really find anything useful except some yard tools. So he decided to just throw some rocks through the windows, thinking that maybe it would distract at least one of the guys and Elliot could get hold of him.

So Oliver picked up some large size rocks and began to launch them towards the upstairs windows, breaking three of them before running and hiding in the shed in case the men looked out the windows.

"What the hell was that?" Staton asked slightly frightened as he heard windows begin to break

"That better not be any of your friends from the outside, or they'll find more dead bodies than they bargained for" Masters said to Olivia before turning back to Staton, "Why don't you go check it out"

"Me?"

"Yeah Staton you, now go" Masters yelled at him

Staton threw Callie towards Masters and Olivia, and Olivia caught her before she fell down. The girl immediately wrapped her arms around Olivia's waist and began to cry.

"Hey shut up kid" Masters yelled at her

"Hey, she's just a kid and she's scared. Don't yell at her" Olivia yelled back at the man

"Then keep her quiet" he told Olivia

As soon as Staton had left the bedroom and began to head down the stairs, Elliot surprised him at the bottom and knocked him out from behind. Then Elliot headed back up the stairs and peeked around the corner into the bedroom where he saw Olivia now sitting on the bed with Callie in her lap and Masters pointing his gun at the two of them. Then he looked over on the floor where McKay was laying and saw that he was starting to wake up.

"John" McKay said hoarsely

"What" Masters shouted as he turned towards McKay

"I need a hospital man"

"That was your fault for getting shot"Masters yelled at him

"Where's Thomas?"

"He went to check out some noises" Masters said as he turned back towards the doorway

"THOMAS" he shouted before stepping into the doorway and yelling the name again

"Damn it" Masters yelled as he turned back into the bedroom, "Something's wrong"

Masters then went towards Olivia and Callie and grabbed Olivia by the arm, yanking her up and off the bed, "We are going to do some bargaining"

"McKay watch the kid" Masters said as he pushed Olivia out the door and around the corner to go down the stairs

While Masters had had his back turned from the doorway, Elliot had snuck off of the stairs and was hiding in another bedroom. So when Masters and Olivia had gone down the stairs Elliot snuck towards the bedroom where Callie was and made a noise to distract McKay. This caused McKay to walk towards the doorway of the bedroom and Elliot grabbed hold of him and began to fight with him before McKay lost his balance and pulled Elliot down the stairs with him. They both landed at the foot of John Masters and Olivia. But while Masters was distracted with what had happened Olivia took the chance to elbow him in the chest and nose before using her body weight against his as she pushed him against the front door.

As she and Elliot were both searching for their guns, Staton woke up and Olivia saw that he had something in his hand. She realized it was a gun as he began to fire at her and Elliot and they dove towards the stairs before running up them as fast as they could go. When they got up the stairs they ran into the bedroom where they had left Callie and found in her in the corner of the room.

"Callie" Olivia said when she saw her huddled in the corner. She bent down to get her and Callie immediately reached her arms out to Olivia

"Comeon let's go to a back bedroom" Elliot said as he motioned for Olivia to follow him into a different bedroom and shut the door behind them. Then he began to move all of the furniture in front of the bedroom door so that nobody could get through.

"Liv are you okay?" Elliot asked her once they had secured the door

"Yeah, where's Oliver? Did he get out?"

"Yeah I sent him out to the squad cars"

"Okay"

"I think we can get out of the window here" Elliot said as he walked over to the bedroom window and opened it

"Can you climb out it?" he asked as he turned to look at Olivia

"Of course" she answered

"Okay you and Callie go first and I'll follow" he told her

Right before Olivia was about to climb out the window gunshots started tearing through the bedroom door and ripping by them. Elliot immediately shoved Olivia to the floor, throwing himself on top of both of them. Once the gunshots stopped for a minute the men started yelling at them and Elliot saw that as a chance.

"Comeon we gotta go, now" he whispered to Olivia as he helped her up off the ground

"You go through first, then I'll hand Callie to you" he told Olivia

Olivia nodded as she climbed out the window onto the roof. Then Elliot passed Callie through the window to Olivia right before gunshots began to rip through the bedroom again. Olivia covered Callie with her body out on the roof while Elliot dropped to the floor inside the bedroom. Once there was a break in the shots again Elliot jumped through the window and landed on the roof to fast and ended up rolling off and landing on the ground.

"Elliot" Olivia shouted loud enough for Elliot to hear

Elliot laid in the grass on his back trying to catch his breath.

"I'm...okay" he managed to get out as he sat up slowly and took in a deep breath

Then he stood up and reached up as Olivia carefully lowered Callie to him. Once Elliot sat Callie carefully on the ground he turned to help Olivia get off the roof. Just as Elliot lowered her to the ground Masters stuck his head out the bedroom window and saw the three of them on the ground. He quickly aimed his gun at Elliot and Olivia and began to fire it at them. Elliot grabbed Callie and pushed Olivia in front of him as they began to run around the side of the house. They made it around to the front yard and began running towards their sedan which was still parked right in front of the house. Once they were all sitting behind the car Elliot turned to Olivia and Callie, who was now sitting between them.

"You guys okay?" he asked

"Yeah" Olivia answered as she turned to look at Callie, "You okay sweetie?"

Callie nodded her head as she scooted closer to Olivia.

A few minutes later some uniformed officers, along with Munch and Fin came to join them behind their car.

"Guys you got to smoke them out of there. And get some officers into the backyard or they might escape" Elliot told them

"We sent some officers around back when we saw you guys run out here" Munch replied

"Where's Oliver?" Olivia asked as she strained her neck to look towards the police cars

"We thought he was with you" said Fin

"I sent him out here to you" Elliot said looking at Munch and Fin

"Well he's not here" Munch told them

"Where the hell is he then" Olivia questioned

Just then they heard windows breaking as tear gas was thrown into all of the windows. They all turned and looked over the car towards the house. One by one all three of the men came out coughing and holding their eyes. Then two officers went inside and got the two men that Olivia and Elliot had tied up when they had first entered the house.

"What if Oliver was in there?" said Olivia

"I don't think he was Liv" Elliot said to her

"Then where is he?"

"The house is clear. Let's go look, maybe he's hiding somewhere" Elliot suggested

Olivia nodded as they both got up and began to walk to around the car. But Callie immediately jumped up and ran to Olivia.

"Don't leave me Livvy" she cried as she grabbed Olivia's arm

"Sweetie I'm just going to look for Ollie. You can stay here with John" Olivia said as she pointed to the funny looking older man with the glasses

"No" she cried as she shook her head

Olivia nodded as she took the girl's hand, "Okay you can walk with me and Elliot, okay"

The girl nodded as she held on to Olivia's hand tightly. As they walked around to the sidewalk she and Elliot began yelling Oliver's name as loud as they could. Then they heard some noise on the side of the house before they saw Oliver come running around the side of the house.

"Mom" he yelled as he ran towards her

"Ollie"Olivia yelled back as she let go of Callie's hand just as Oliver reached her and jumped up into her arms wrapping his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck as tight as he could. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she held him tightly.

"I love you sweetheart. Are you okay?" Olivia asked as she pulled her son back enough to look at his face to see a bruise and a couple of cuts.

"I'm okay mom" he said as he wrapped his arms back around her neck

Elliot stood next to Callie smiling, glad that Oliver and Olivia were both okay. A couple minutes later Olivia finally set Oliver down on the ground and both were smiling as wide as they possibly could.

"You okay sport?" Elliot asked Oliver

"Yeah I'm good" Oliver answered

Then Oliver bent down in front of Callie, "You okay Cal?"

"Uh-huh" she answered

"See I told you my mom and Elliot would find us" Oliver told her

Callie smiled as she threw her arms around Oliver's neck, "I'm glad you're okay Ollie" she said to him

"Me too" he told her as he returned the hug

Then they all began to walk back towards the squad cars and Olivia looked down at Oliver, "There are a couple people I want you to meet"

"Okay" he nodded

Olivia put her arm around his shoulders and walked with him, Elliot, and Callie over to where Munch and Fin were standing.

"Munch, Fin, this is my son Oliver. Ollie this is Munch" she said pointing to the tall man, "And this is Fin" she said pointing at the other man

"Hi" Oliver said as he shook both men's hands

"Nice to meet you Oliver" Munch said as he shook the boys hand

"Captain wants us all back at the station, including the kids" Fin said to Elliot and Olivia

"Okay" Elliot nodded, "We'll meet you at the station"

They all walked back over to the sedan and Elliot opened the door for the two kids to get in the back before he and Olivia got in the front.

They finally arrived back at the station house. All four of them, Elliot, Olivia, and the two kids were cold, tired, and bruised. All they wanted was to go home, but they had to wrap up a few loose ends, including proving to Cragen that they were all okay. They walked into the precinct and Olivia felt the stares from all of the officers, by now everyone knowing that the boy walking in beside her was her son. A boy that she had kept secret for the past eight years. They got into the elevator and got off on the floor assigned to SVU and walked through the doors and towards their desks.

By that time Cragen had come out of his office and was heading towards them. He stopped at Elliot's desk and turned to look at each person, including the two kids.

"Everyone alright?" he asked his two detectives

Elliot and Olivia both nodded before Elliot answered, "I think everybody would be a lot better if they could get some food and a hot shower"

Cragen nodded before turning to Olivia, "Can I just have a word with you and your son"

Olivia nodded and motioned for Oliver to follow her into his office. Once they were inside Cragen's office he turned and shut the door behind Olivia and Oliver. Then he turned towards them.

"So I hear your name is Oliver"

"Yes sir" Oliver answered

"Nice to meet you Oliver. I'm Captain Cragen" he said, extending his hand to the ten year old boy

"Hi" Oliver replied shaking the older man's hand

"Well now that everyone here knows about you, don't be a stranger, okay"

"Yes sir"

"And you don't have to sir me, either"

"Yes sir-I mean...okay" Oliver smiled

Olivia smiled at her son and then to her Captain, "Well if you don't mind Captain we are all tired and hungry, especially the kids"

"There's one more thing I need to talk to you about" Cragen told her as he nodded towards Callie, who was sitting at her desk drawing a picture

"Okay. Hey Ollie why don't you go wait out there with Elliot and Callie" she told her son

"Mom don't let them take Callie away" Oliver said as his mother opened the door so that he could go out

"I'll take care of it sweetie, just go wait out there" she said as she shut the door behind her son

She turned back around to look at Cragen and she knew by the look on his face that something was up.

"Olivia the girl has to go to social services. As far as we know there are no other relatives other than her mother. And you know the law, we have to turn her over so they can find a foster home to put her in"

"Captain let me take her with me tonight. Please. I mean she's been through so much the last couple of days, hell she's been through a lot these past couple of weeks. She knows me and trusts me and Oliver, she knows she safe with us. Let her go with me and I'll bring her back on Monday"

"Olivia"

"Captain" Olivia begged

"Okay but you have to bring her in Monday morning" he told her sternly

Olivia smiled, "Thank you Captain, I will"

Olivia turned to leave and walked towards her and Elliot's desks, stopping at Elliot's. He looked up at her from his chair to question what Cragen had wanted. Olivia looked down at him and smiled before looking across to her desk where Oliver was now sitting in her chair with Callie on his lap with her eyes closed.

"What do you say we go get some food and a hot shower" Olivia said

"Awesome" Oliver answered as he lifted Callie up and off of his lap

Olivia walked around to her desk and took Callie's hand and the three of them began to walk out towards the elevator. But Olivia stopped and turned back around to find Elliot still sitting at his desk.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked him with a smile

Elliot smiled as he jumped up and walked over to them, "Just wanted to make sure I was invited"

"Oh please, when has that ever stopped you" Olivia laughed as they all stepped into the elevator

By the time they picked up some food and got to Olivia's apartment Callie was fast asleep in the back seat and Oliver was getting to that point. So Olivia picked Callie up from the back seat and carried her up to her apartment while Elliot carried the food and steered Oliver in the right directions.

Once they got inside Olivia laid Callie down on the couch and Oliver plopped down next to her. Elliot and Olivia got out some dishes to eat, but when she walked back over to the couch Oliver was now also passed out.

"Well I don't think those two will be eating with us. They must be exhausted" Olivia said as she turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"Will you help me get them to bed?" she asked Elliot

He nodded as he followed Olivia to the couch. She bent down and picked up Callie, carrying her into her bedroom as Elliot picked up Oliver and took him into his bedroom. After Olivia had laid Callie on her bed she went into Oliver's room to find Elliot just laying her son down.

"Hey let me wake him up so he can change" she said as she walked towards him

"I think he's okay Liv, just take his sweatshirt off and let him sleep" Elliot told her

She nodded as Elliot sat Oliver up and Olivia got his sweatshirt off. Then Elliot laid him back down and stood up, walking over to the doorway before turning around to look at Olivia and Oliver. He watched as Olivia pulled Oliver's covers up over him and ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed his forehead. Then he heard her tell him that she loved him before standing up and turning to see Elliot still standing in the doorway. She smiled at him as she turned off Oliver's desk lamp and followed Elliot out the door, remembering to shut the door behind her.

"I'll be right back" she told him as she went back into her own bedroom to check on Callie. She got the little girls jacket and shoes off before she pulled the covers back and laid the little girl on the sheets, and pulling the covers up over her and kissing her forehead goodnight.

Once she was through Olivia went back into the living room to find Elliot sitting on the couch with a plate of food in his lap, watching some TV. She smiled as she sat down next to him and took a plate he had made for her. As they were eating and watching TV they also began to talk.

"You okay with everything Liv?" Elliot asked as they were eating

"Yeah I think so"

"With Callie and everything?"

There was a slight pause from Olivia before she stopped eating and while she was looking straight at the television she asked,

"Do you think that everything happens for a reason?"

"I don't know. I think some things do happen for a reason, but I don't know about everything" he responded

Olivia nodded before turning to look at him, "I've been thinking a lot lately about why things happen. And I think I've come to the conclusion that they happen for a particular reason"

"Like what?"

"It depends. Like Callie for instance, she lost her mother and has been through a terrible ordeal, but in the end I think it happened for a reason" she said as she turned to look back at Elliot again, "I think maybe she was meant to become part of my family. That in some strange way we are supposed to save each other from our pasts" she said as she leaned back against the couch and laid her head back, "What do you think?"

Elliot was still leaning forward and had to take a deep breath from what Olivia had just said, "Well if that's true, and everything does happen for a reason then being partnered with you was something that happened for a reason, and staying partners for the last eight years...even my divorce...happened for a reason..."Elliot smiled, "I guess I do believe then, that everything happens for a reason. Because if you think about it we could not even know each other...Wow that says a lot...I don't think I want to think about not knowing you...I think we should maybe talk about everything happening for a reason...between us" Elliot said as he turned to the side to look at Olivia, only to find that she was sound asleep and he couldn't help but smile.

He leaned across her and took the blanket off the arm of the couch and covered her with it before kissing her forehead and turning off the TV. Then he leaned back and propped his feet up on the coffee table in front of him before closing his eyes and falling fast asleep.

* * *

A/N: Well there are only a couple of chapters left so please don't hesitate to review. It really helps me write more when I know ya'll like it! 


	14. Not Giving Up

A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. And since ya'll were so good to me here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

**Ch. 13 Not Giving Up**

The weekend was finally over and Olivia knew that the next morning she was going to have to turn Callie over to Social Services. She and Elliot had spent all day Saturday with both of the kids, getting them to open up about what exactly had happened with those men. She thought that for the most part her son would be okay because he seemed to be the kind of person who got over things fairly quickly. But she was truly worried about Callie, a little girl who had been through so much in her six years of life. Olivia worried that she might get lost in the foster care system because of her inability to trust people. And Olivia knew that Callie trusted her and Oliver, and although it might take a while she had a feeling she would learn to trust Elliot as well, if she could get the chance. It was Sunday night and Elliot had left to spend the day with his kids, which he rarely got a chance to do anymore. So Olivia was at home with Oliver and Callie watching them interact with each other as Oliver taught Callie how to play one of the new video games he had bought. Olivia smiled as she watched them laugh together and she knew she had to do something. So she picked up the phone and called Elliot.

"Stabler"

"Elliot it's me"

"Olivia? Is everything okay?" he asked in a concerned voice

"I need to talk to you about something after you take your kids home" she told him

"Okay well I just dropped them off and I was heading back to my house. Do you want me to come back to your apartment?"

"Oh, no never mind I don't want you to have to drive all the way back over here"

"Liv it's no problem I'm not that far away. I'll be there as soon as I can" he told her before hanging up

Some thirty minutes later there was a knock on Olivia's door.

"Hey, one of your neighbors let me in" he told her as he stepped inside her apartment

She nodded as she shut and locked the door behind her.

"What's this all about?" he asked as she turned back around to face him

"We should talk in my bedroom, it's more private in there" she said as she motioned towards the two kids in the living room playing video games

"Okay" he nodded as he turned to follow her to her bedroom

"Hey kids, what's up" Elliot said as they passed through the living room

"Hi Elliot. Just teaching Cal how to defeat the snake demon" Oliver replied without taking his eyes off of the screen

"Okay then" said Elliot as he shook his head at the two kids before stepping into Olivia's bedroom

Before Olivia shut her door she looked back out in the living room and said, "Hey Ollie, Elliot and I need to discuss some work stuff so if you need anything we'll be in here okay"

"Kay" Oliver replied without looking at his mother

Olivia then shut her door before turning back to look at Elliot.

"Okay Liv, what's this all about?" he asked

"Callie" she answered

"What about Callie?"

"I can't give her up El. She's been through so much and I think she might get lost in the system"

"Olivia, she's not going to get lost in the system. I mean she's a beautiful little girl and she's still young and she's sweet"

"But Elliot, she doesn't trust anybody but us. She pretty much refuses to talk to people that she doesn't know. And she's not going to get adopted that way"

"So, what, you want to adopt her?" he asked

"I don't know. I just know I can't let her go to social services. Something about it doesn't feel right"

"Well Liv, there's a lot more at stake here than your feelings. You know that right. I mean I know you've grown attached to her and I know you feel you have a connection with her, but can you honestly say you're going to be able to give her what she needs"

"How can you be saying that Elliot. You're my partner, you should be on my side, supporting me."

"I am on your side Olivia, but think about it. The extra time you have now, which isn't a lot, you spend with Oliver right? But if you take in Callie then you'll have to split your time between the both of them and I'm not sure if you or Oliver will want to do that. And I really don't know if Social Services would be willing to give her to you with your working hours."

It was fairly dark in Olivia's room since it was dark outside and the only light was coming through her bedroom window blinds. But even Elliot could tell that her eyes were filling up with tears ready to fall at any moment. He knew he had hurt her feelings, which is the furthest thing that he had wanted to do and now he felt terrible, because he knew for a fact that Olivia was a wonderful mother and that any child would be lucky to have her. He knew that Callie would be in good hands with Olivia and that she would actually have a chance at a good future.

"Olivia I didn't mean that you-"

"It's fine Elliot, why don't you just go. You've told me everything I need to know" Olivia said as she turned around to open the door, but before she could open it Elliot grabbed her by the arms and spun her around to face him

"What the hell are you doing Elliot" she asked angrily

"I want you to understand what I meant" he said still holding her arms fairly tightly

"Elliot you're hurting me" she told him quietly

He immediately let her go, "Sorry"

She nodded before he began to talk.

"I don't doubt what you could give her Olivia. I already know that you are a terrific mother. And it's obvious how much you care about Callie, and I can see how much she likes you. I know that she would have a great future if you were her mother, because you would make sure that she gets all the help that she needs. I don't doubt any of that Liv"

"Then why did you say those things?" Olivia asked quietly

"Because...I don't want to get your hopes up and...you not get Callie because of your job and the long hours that's required by us" he told her, "Olivia I think that you would be great for Callie" he told her sincerely

Olivia smiled as she looked at Elliot before walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck and embracing him in a tight hug. He hugged her back and smiled to himself, thankful that she understood him.

"Thank you Elliot...For believing in me" she whispered in his ear

"Always" he whispered back

As she pulled back their eyes met and Elliot saw the tears still in her eyes and watched as a single tear ran down her cheek. He reached his hand up to her face and wiped away the stray tear with his thumb. As he did she closed her eyes at his touch, instantly relaxing. He leaned back down and whispered in her ear,

"I'll always believe in you"

When he said that she immediately opened her eyes to find her brown ones staring into his blue ones. She swallowed hard when Elliot began to lean towards her and she began to tense. He could feel her tense, so he looked directly into her eyes, "Relax Liv. Trust me" he told her as his lips captured hers in a tender, yet powerful kiss. The kiss began to grow deeper when his tongue ran along her lips, asking permission to enter. She surrendered and moaned as she allowed his tongue to part her lips and he began to trace his tongue over her teeth before their tongues began to explore each others mouths. His hands moved from her face, tracing down her arms till they gripped her hips pulling her even closer to him. At the same time her hands moved up his chest before wrapping around the back of his neck.

Olivia began to lose complete control of her body and she believed the same had happened to Elliot. Because despite the fact that her head was telling her to stop she still found herself pushing Elliot towards her bed and once the back of his knees connected with the bed he fell onto it, with Olivia landing on top of him. Their lips never lost contact throughout the move, nor when Olivia began to sit up, straddling Elliot. Elliot and Olivia both knew that they had lost control of their bodies, but they both had been wanting this for so long that there was nothing to stop them. But Elliot had just flipped Olivia over on her back, he now on top of her, one set of their hands now laced together, while Elliot's free hand moved to the front of her jeans. And just as he was about to undo them a yell from the living room brought them both back into reality.

"Mooom" Oliver yelled from the other room

Elliot and Olivia immediately jumped apart and off of the bed just as Oliver began knocking on the bedroom door.

"I'm sorry" Elliot apologized "We shouldn't-"

"No I'm sorry" Olivia responded, "I-"

"Mom can I come in?" Oliver asked from the other side of the door

"Yeah sweetie" Olivia said as she walked towards the bedroom door

Oliver opened the door and looked from his mom to Elliot, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah buddy everything's okay, what's up?" she asked

"The phone rang and I answered it and it was Captain Cragen reminding you to bring Callie in tomorrow morning" Oliver stated obviously upset, "You said you wouldn't let them take her"

"Oliver that's what Elliot and I were talking about. I don't want to take her in tomorrow. But I don't know if they will let her stay here any longer" she told her son

"Mom she knows us and trusts us. Please don't let them take her away. I want her to stay here"

Olivia walked up to Oliver and looked down into her son's brown eyes, "Are you sure you want her to stay here? Because there would have to be a lot of changes around here to accommodate for a six year old little girl"

"I'm sure I want her to stay" he answered

"Okay then. I can't promise anything, but I am going to do everything in my power to get her to stay here with us, okay" she told him

Oliver smiled, "Okay"

"Comere" she told him as she pulled him into a hug

Elliot smiled at the two of them as they pulled apart, "Hey Oliver"

"Yeah" he answered as he turned to look at Elliot

"I'm going to do everything I can to help your mother"

"I know" Oliver smiled as he walked out of the bedroom and back into the living room

Elliot and Olivia were once again left alone, but both were unsure about what to say or do. They both looked at each other and Olivia was the first to speak.

"Elliot I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened...I mean I know what happened. But I don't know why. I mean we can't do this, it's against regulations"

"Is it. I'm not really sorry Olivia. I've been holding this in for so long. How I truly feel about you, and I can't do that anymore. I care about you more than a partner should, but I can't help that and I can't change how I feel. All I know is that when you're with me I feel complete...And when I'm away from you I can't wait to see you again...Your smile, your laugh. I never really thought I could feel this way again...And I'm not even sure that I felt this way about Kathy...But you...I love being with you and I've never been this open with anybody but I'm telling you because I don't want to lose you...ever"

Olivia was shocked at his open confession for his feelings towards her and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from smiling. But she was still unsure about the whole thing. She knew how she felt about him, but she was afraid that they would be separated at work if anybody found out, and that was the last thing that she wanted to happen.

"Elliot...I don't know what to say. If anybody ever found out...we could be separated...and that's the last thing that I want to happen."

"Your willing to give up what we have in order to remain partners?"

"How do we know that what we have will really work?"

"And how do we know that it won't?" he asked, "If you can tell me that what you feel is just a phase, and that it will go away, then fine. But I don't believe that's how you feel"

"I don't want to lose you as my partner"

"Maybe we don't have to. Nobody has to know, at least not until we know where this is going. But Olivia I really feel that we have something here, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes if it means I get to be with you. But the decision is up to you. You can think about it and let me know" Elliot told her as he walked past her to the bedroom door

"Wait. Where are you going?" she asked as she grabbed his wrist

"I'm going home, to give you space to think about what you want to do" he answered

Olivia stood there for a moment her hand still holding onto Elliot's wrist, before she reached around him with her other hand and quietly shut the door. Then closed the space between them as she leaned in first and kissed him gently on the lips. She then pulled back and took a small step backwards, before sliding her hand from his wrist to his hand and lacing her fingers through his. She was looking down at their hands, noticing how they fit together perfectly.

"Elliot you know it's not easy for me to open up to people...especially men. And I already screwed up big time when I married Oliver's father, but I wouldn't change that because if I did I wouldn't have Oliver and I can't imagine my life without him...But I also know that I tend to push people away who are close to me"

"Tell me about it" said Elliot with a smile

Olivia looked up at Elliot with that look on her face, that he knew meant shut up.

"El I don't want to screw up what we have...because...your all I have. You and Oliver-"

"Liv, no matter what happened, I could never not be friends with you. I will always be there for you, no matter what" Elliot told her sincerely

"You say that, but if it didn't work, you would forget about it"

"Olivia, look at me" he told her sternly, "You mean more to me than anything else, and your all I have...You're the only person I can turn to...I would never forget you or anything about a relationship that I could possibly have with you. You have to trust me. You have to know that after eight years together I mean what I say"

There was a slight pause as Olivia looked back down as Elliot took her other hand in his, so that both sets of their hands were now laced together.

"I do trust you" she said quietly still looking at their hands that were intertwined

"What?" he asked, not completely sure what he heard

She looked up at him, "I do trust you" she said again, this time louder, but still quietly

"Then what's wrong?"

"That's what scares me" she told him, "I'm afraid that I'll trust you and you'll break my heart"

"Liv, I would never hurt you. Please believe that" he begged her

"I do. I know you would never hurt me on purpose" she replied, "But the last time I opened my heart to someone...trusted someone...I got hurt"

"You're talking about your exhusband, aren't you" Elliot stated

Olivia nodded her head.

"Olivia I swear to you that I will never intentionally hurt you. And truthfully I'm happier with you than I've ever been with anyone in a long time. And it's the kind of feeling that I know can last a lifetime if we let it"

Olivia smiled as she looked into his eyes. She knew he was telling her the truth and that's what scared her. It's what she had always wanted and now that she might get it she was having second thoughts. She was afraid of what it would mean.

"I feel it too Elliot" she told him quietly "That's what scares me. I'm afraid of what it means. I'm also afraid that it might not last, because it seems like bad things always happen to me. It's like I'm not supposed to be truly happy"

"I don't believe that Liv. Everyone deserves to be truly happy...Especially you. And I want to help make it that way for you" he told her with a smile

"But I'm afraid that this might work. Then what? It's just so...complex. Things will definitely change"

"Sometimes change is good" he told her

"What scares me is how much I trust you Elliot. I think you know that by now. And there aren't very many people out there that I trust, especially the way I trust you. And I guess a couple years ago I realized that the kind of man I wanted was someone like you, that's when my dates began to last shorter and shorter, I mean that and the job. But then I realized that I didn't want someone like you...I wanted you. But I never thought it could actually happen...And now...Now I'm scared out of mind. Because you're the one person I can always count on"

"And I always will be, no matter what. But I think us not trying...this...I think that would be even worse. Because it would always be at the back of our minds. What if? I think we owe it to ourselves to try it, because I think we can be truly happy" he told her with a smile

Olivia returned the smile before she squeezed his hands and leaned in to give him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"What was that?" he asked, "Was that a 'let's try it kiss' or a 'I think we should just stay friends kiss'?"

She smiled and shook her head, "That was a 'let's try it kiss'" she told him

He smiled again before pulling her towards him and kissing her deeper and longer this time before she gently pushed him away.

"But let's not get carried away. Let's take this slow, okay. I don't want to rush things" she told him

He smiled and nodded, "Whatever you want sweetheart"

Olivia laughed a little when he called her sweetheart.

"What?" he asked with a smile

"Nothing it's just going to take me some time to get used to you calling me that" she smiled as she opened her bedroom door. Before she stepped out into the living room she turned back around and smiled at Elliot, "But no slip ups at work"

"Right" he nodded with a smile as he followed her out into the living room

They both set down on the couch and watched Oliver and Callie continue to battle it out playing video games. They knew that tomorrow was going to be one of the hardest days ever. Olivia knew it was going to take a lot to get her Captain to go along with the idea of her keeping Callie, and she knew that Social Services was going to be even harder to convince. But she was willing to do whatever it took to keep Callie.

* * *

A/N: Well that's the next chapter. What do ya'll think? There was some fluff there, right? Anyways, review and let me know! 


	15. Author Update

A/N: I just wanted to apologize to all of ya'll for not updating in like a month. I have been moving into a new house, yet again, and this whole past month has been a nightmare. And to make matters worse I start school next week, and I just started a new job like two days ago. Hopefully I will have some time to start working on my stories again either this weekend or next weekend. I am not going to make any promises though as to when they will be up, I just wanted ya'll to know that I haven't abandoned them...They will get finished, I promise. Just please stick with me, cause my loyal fans, ya'll are the best, and I don't want to lose ya'll.

Alex


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